{"id":106646,"date":"2024-08-06T13:01:39","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T17:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=106646"},"modified":"2024-08-06T14:00:01","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T18:00:01","slug":"scrutiny-toronto-summer-music-finale-showcases-new-established-talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2024\/08\/06\/scrutiny-toronto-summer-music-finale-showcases-new-established-talent\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | Toronto Summer Music Finale Showcases Both New And Established Talent"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"L-R:
L-R: Ria Honda, Hudson Ye Hyung Chung, violins; Yura Lee, Celia Morin, violas; Juliana Moroz, cello (Chamber Music Institute Fellows) (Photo: Lucky Tang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Traditional, arr. Kathleen Allan: Come and I Will Sing You; Brahms: \u201cO Sch\u00f6ne Nacht\u201d; Vivaldi: Excerpts from Gloria; Elgar: Sea Pictures, Op. 37; iii. Sabbath Morning at Sea; Nicole Percifield, mezzo\u2014soprano (Art of Song Fellow); Steven Philcox, piano (Art of Song Program Director); Chopin: Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52; Richard Wang, piano (Community Program \u2014 Piano Masterclass); Gershwin \u2014 Mangani: Blues from \u201cAn American in Paris\u201d; Eric Abramovitz*, clarinet, Philip Chiu*, piano; Humperdinck: \u201cAbendsegen\u201d from H\u00e4nsel und Gretel, Caitlin Wood, Sarah Mole, sopranos; Claire Heinrichs, violin; Jonathan Crow viola; Sabina Crow, cello; Jennifer Mak, piano (TSM Staff); Florence Price: Piano Quintet in A minor iii. Juba \u2013 Allegro, Lauren Conroy, Ria Honda, violins; Daniel Simmons, viola, Kelcey Howell, cello; Yumi Jang, piano (Chamber Music Institute Fellows); Ravel: String Quartet in F Major, M. 35 i. Allegro moderato \u2014 Tr\u00e8s doux, Jean\u2014Paul Desaulniers, Aaron Schwebel*, violins; Julia Pacitti, viola, Stuart Mutch, cello (Community Program \u2014 Chamber Music); Rheinberger: Nonet in E\u2014flat Major, Op. 139, i. Allegro \u2014 Moderato \u2014 Adagio \u2014 Allegro vivo, Kate Sohn, violin; Barry Shiffman*, viola; Christie MacCallum, cello, Ian Werker, bass, Claire Lee, flute; Cristina Sewerin, oboe, Jonathan Krehm, clarinet, Samuel Banks, bassoon, Gabriel Radford, horn; Michael Chiarello, coach (Community Program \u2014 Chamber Music); Iman Habibi: Haft (World Premi\u00e8re, TSM Commission), Shane Kim, violin; R\u00e9mi Pelletier, viola, Leana Rutt, cello, Jesse Dale, bass, Miles Haskins, clarinet, Mikhailo Babiak, horn, Nicolas Richard, bassoon; Mozart: String Quintet No. 3 in C Major, K. 515, iv. Allegro, Ria Honda, Hudson Ye Hyung Chung, violins; Yura Lee,** Celia Morin,, violas; Juliana Moroz, cello (Chamber Music Institute Fellows)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The Toronto Summer Music Finale was a wonderful showcase of the musical activities that have been happening over the past number of weeks. On this hot Saturday summer evening, Walter Hall was nearly full of an appreciative and supportive audience. It goes to show the dedication of classical music lovers in Toronto to get their dose of live performances.<\/p>\n

There are two main components to Toronto Summer Music (TSM). There is the Festival, in which world\u2014renowned musicians give performances. A good number of these Festival concerts were sold out, as indicated by TSM\u2019s Artistic Director, and host for the evening, Jonathan Crow.<\/p>\n

Then, there is the TSM Academy, which is a rigorous training program for emerging performers. The Community Program within the TSM Academy provides advanced adult amateurs the exciting opportunity to learn from and to perform with professional musicians.<\/p>\n

This Finale concert offered a delectable sampling of the various components of TSM. Given the number of participants, for the most part, only a single movement of a larger work was performed.<\/p>\n

All the three streams within the Community Program \u2013 Chamber Choir, Piano Masterclass, and Chamber Music \u2013 were represented on the program. I was particularly impressed by the string quartet\u2019s performance of Ravel\u2019s String Quartet in F Major. There was a liveliness to the performance, but it was also able to evoke the \u201ctr\u00e8s doux\u201d marking of the movement.<\/p>\n

From the TSM Academy, the emerging artists (fellows) in the program gave outstanding performances. The Piano Quintet in A minor (3rd movement: Juba \u2013 Allegro) by Florence Price was performed with the requisite dance quality that captured that character of the juba dance and the spirit of the Southern USA. The performance of Mozart\u2019s String Quintet No.3 in C Major (K.515, 4th movement: Allegro) was brimming with delight and charm. In both of these performances, the chamber music ensembles were cohesive and acutely attentive to each other. It was as if they were performing together for years rather than just weeks.<\/p>\n

\"L-R
L-R (clockwise): Philip Chiu, piano: Eric Abramovitz, clarinet; (l-r)\u00a0Lauren Conroy, Ria Honda, violins; Daniel Simmons, viola; Kelcey Howell, cello; Yumi Jang, piano (Chamber Music Institute Fellows); Caitlin Wood, Sarah Mole, sopranos; Claire Heinrichs, violin; Jonathan Crow viola; Sabina Crow, cello; Jennifer Mak, piano (TSM Staff) (All photos by Lucky Tang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nicole Percifield<\/strong> (Art of Song Fellow), sang Elgar\u2019s Sabbath Morning at Sea from Sea Pictures, Op. 37, supported by Steven Philcox<\/strong> on the piano. Percifield\u2019s voice has marvellous colour and depth that suited the emotions of the poem. Her phrasing evoked a sense of the sea waves, while still having forward direction.<\/p>\n

In addition to familiar works, some festival mentors and artists came together to give the world premiere of Haft, a TSM Commissioned work by Iranian-Canadian composer Iman Habibi<\/strong>. Unfortunately, there was no program note for this new piece provided. I suspect that Haft refers to the Persian word for seven, which is the number of instruments required for the piece: violin, viola, cello, bass, clarinet, horn, and bassoon. The piece was written idiomatically for the instruments, and there were wonderful contrasts between the string and wind instruments. Sustained harmonies contrasted with repeated note patterns. Individual melodic gestures were clear and effective. The entire piece had audibly clear sections, but I was longing for an overarching structure to tie it all together. Perhaps a second listening would unveil something more.<\/p>\n

There were two gems that stood out in the evening.<\/p>\n

Firstly, Eric Abramovitz<\/strong>, clarinet, and Philip Chiu<\/strong>, piano performed Blues from \u201cAn American in Paris\u201d by Gershwin, arranged by Michele Mangani. These two highly accomplished musicians demonstrated their versatility and delivered a marvellous performance with their nuanced rhythms and impeccably appropriate tone.<\/p>\n

Secondly, the TSM staff, who are fine musicians in their own right, performed \u201cAbendsegen\u201d from Engelbert Humperdinck\u2019s opera, “H\u00e4nsel und Gretel”. Caitlin Wood<\/strong> and Sarah Mole<\/strong>, sopranos, not only have angelic voices, but were most adorable when they theatrically fell asleep on stage.<\/p>\n

Next year\u2019s edition will be the TSM\u2019s twentieth and the festival will run from July 10 to August 2, 2025. I\u2019ve already got my calendar marked.<\/p>\n

Are you looking to promote an event<\/u><\/span><\/a>? Have a\u00a0news tip<\/u><\/a>? Need to know the best\u00a0events<\/u><\/a>\u00a0happening this weekend? Send us a\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>note<\/u>.<\/em><\/strong>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n

Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sign up for the Ludwig Van Toronto e-Blast! \u2014 local classical music and opera news straight to your inbox <\/em>HERE<\/a>.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Summer Music Finale was a wonderful showcase of the musical activities that have been happening over the past number of weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":106649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40967,10,11,76,19,43,52,59,63],"tags":[4439,4570,3356],"yst_prominent_words":[7712,19767],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/Copy-of-REVIEW-58.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-rK6","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106646"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/115"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106646"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106653,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106646\/revisions\/106653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106646"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=106646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}