{"id":100238,"date":"2023-11-07T11:28:09","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T16:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=100238"},"modified":"2023-11-07T11:38:37","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T16:38:37","slug":"preview-arc-ensemble-marks-20th-anniversary-season-spotlighting-works-repressed-antisemitism-political-oppression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2023\/11\/07\/preview-arc-ensemble-marks-20th-anniversary-season-spotlighting-works-repressed-antisemitism-political-oppression\/","title":{"rendered":"PREVIEW | ARC Ensemble Marks 20th Anniversary Season Of Spotlighting Works Repressed By Antisemitism & Political Oppression"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The ARC Ensemble (Photo:\u00a0Sam Gaetz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

War and oppressive regimes, sadly, are seemingly never in short supply. Toronto\u2019s ARC Ensemble has spent 20 seasons re-introducing the works of composers whose work was suppressed as they were forced into exile by bigotry and antisemitism.<\/p>\n

The Ensemble is the brainchild of President & CEO of The Royal Conservatory of Music, Dr. Peter Simon, who looked to showcase the talents of the RCM\u2019s faculty. The group chose as their focus to research and recover the work produced by 20th century composers who had brilliant careers ahead of them, only to be derailed by the forces of oppressive political regimes. Over time, their works have been forgotten; the ARC Ensemble performs and records the gems they discover to re-introduce them to the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the past 20 years, the ARC Ensemble has done important work in ensuring that the contributions of composers who were marginalized under the 20th\u00a0century\u2019s repressive regimes are heard and given their due,\u201d says Dr. Simon in a statement.<\/p>\n

The ARC Ensemble: 20 Years<\/h2>\n

The majority of the Ensemble\u2019s members are made up of senior faculty members at the RCM\u2019s Glenn Gould School. With both Grammy and JUNO nominations for their recordings, they continue to earn international respect for both their work and their artistry.<\/p>\n

The ARC Ensemble musicians who will perform for the concert include Erika Raum<\/strong> (violin), Marie B\u00e9rard<\/strong> (violin), Steven Dann<\/strong> (viola), Thomas Wiebe<\/strong> (cello), Joaquin Valdepe\u00f1as<\/strong> (clarinet), Kevin Ahfat<\/strong> (piano) and guest performer David Liam Roberts<\/strong> (cello).<\/p>\n

Their November 29 concert is titled ARC Ensemble: Celebrating 20 Years\u00a0in Mazzoleni Hall, and the programme illustrates their ongoing investigations into forgotten music.<\/p>\n

Walter Braunfels: String Quintet in F sharp Minor, op. 63<\/h3>\n

Walter Braunfels (1882 to 1954) enjoyed a successful early career into the 1920s and 1930s \u2014 until he was publicly denounced as half-Jewish, and his work was banned as “degenerate” as part of the Nazi regime’s propaganda campaign. He was dismissed from his position at the Hochschule f\u00fcr Musik in Cologne in 1933.<\/p>\n

Prior to his exile, his operatic and orchestral works as a neo-Romantic composer in the tradition of Strauss and Berlioz, were widely performed. Braunfels retreated from public life during the war years, and while he continued to compose, he never regained his early success.<\/p>\n

His String Quartet was an early discovery of ARC Ensemble.<\/p>\n

Frederick Block: Modern era premieres\u00a0 of String Quartet, op. 23; Piano Quintet, op. 19 & Suite for Clarinet, op. 73<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The concert will be a kind of second premiere for works by Frederick Block which have not been heard in more than 75 years. Composer Frederick Block was born in 1899 in Vienna, and died on June 1, 1945 \u2014 too early to see the end of the war.<\/p>\n

A child prodigy, he was composing music by the age of nine. His parents discouraged his musical ambitions at first. After his military service during WWI, though, they supported his enrolment in the Vienna Conservatory.<\/p>\n

His music was first heard by a live audience in 1922. His reputation and career grew throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s. He wrote eight operas, including some of the libretti.<\/p>\n

When the Nazis entered Austria in 1938, he fled to London, where he met his wife. After their marriage, the couple moved to New York in 1940, where Block worked for radio and music publishers, and some film projects. He was prolific, and continued to compose classical works, including another opera, symphonies, suites, and many chamber works.<\/p>\n

Some, however, have never been performed, and many others on only on one occasion.<\/p>\n

Kevin Ahfat of the ARC Ensemble performs Robert M\u00fcller-Hartmann: 3 Intermezzi and Scherzo, op. 22: III. Etwas bewegt, wiegend live in Mazzoleni Concert Hall at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada on November 13, 2022: <\/em><\/p>\n