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With 102 concerts and events, including 478 Canadian artists, including several First Nations, and representing 27 countries, Koerner Hall\u2019s 10th anniversary season kicks off and ends with mini-festivals, and offers a line-up that can only be called diverse. Representing a range of genres from jazz to roots and world music, the bedrock of their musical programming is a constant stream of classical music concerts, including highly anticipated debuts and returning artists.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been as diverse as that every year,\u201d points out Mervon Mehta, Executive Director, Performing Arts. While the overall goals for the season were business as usual, however, he did have some special points in mind for 2018-19. \u201cI wanted to invite back people we loved,\u201d he says. In other cases, it\u2019s a matter of finally landing a few big fish. \u201cI\u2019ve been after a couple of big names for years,\u201d he says. They include noted American baritone Thomas Hampson, who will be joined by son-in-law, Italian baritone Luca Pisaroni in a program titled \u201cNo Tenors Allowed\u201d on April 30 for the season-closing festival.<\/p>\n
Among the good news on the financial side comes the announcement that BMO will sponsor the concert season for the next three years as official Season Sponsor.<\/p>\n
The season starts with a splash in the opening festival that includes seven concerts in eight days, three of them free. The Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble will perform works by Carl Nielsen, Jean Fran\u00e7aix, and Ludwig van Beethoven on October 3. Headlining the opening festival is the return of Canada\u2019s latest superstar conductor, Yannick N\u00e9zet-S\u00e9guin, who will be bringing the Orchestre M\u00e9tropolitain with him down the QEW from Montreal for the concert on October 5. \u201cHe\u2019s arguably one of the biggest of the young conductors today,\u201d Mehta says, noting that he had just assumed the role of conductor the first time he came to Koerner Hall in 2015. \u201cHe just fell in love with the hall.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 10th Anniversary Gala on October 2 will feature celebrated soprano Kathleen Battle in a program of classical, jazz, and gospel songs. The proceeds from the evening will go towards Resounding! The Campaign for The Royal Conservatory. The new funding campaign was recently launched with a gift of $20 million donated jointly by three couples, including Michael and Sonja Koerner. As Mehta pointed out during the season announcement event on June 4, Koerner Hall gets less than 5 percent of its funding from government sources. He said about 70 percent of revenues come from ticket sales, with the rest of the tab coming from private and corporate donations.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot of advance buzz about the pairing of Chinese pianist Yuja Wang with French cellist Gautier Capu\u00e7on (April 13,) a concert that will be recorded live for Warner Classics. It\u2019s a unique occasion, but if you want to get your hands on tickets, you probably should have done so already. Mehta told the audience at the season announcement on June 4 that only about 60 tickets remained for the performance.<\/p>\n
The Danish String Quartet will be making their Koerner Hall debut on November 4 playing works by Haydn, Abrahamsen, and Beethoven. \u201cI\u2019ve been following them,\u201d Mehta says. They\u2019re a young and dynamic chamber group. \u201cWatching them play, you feel like you\u2019re watching a rock quartet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the returning artists is acclaimed violinist Hilary Hahn, (November 9,)\u00a0 who will be performing a solo recital of J.S. Bach, including Sonata No. 2 and 3 and Partita No. 3. For Baroque enthusiasts, violinist Daniel Hope and Friends will also present AIR \u2013 A Baroque Journey on November 3, in a program taken from the Deutsche Grammophon album of the same name. Multiple Grammy Award-winning clarinetist and saxophonist Paquito D\u2019Rivera will be back at Koerner Hall with Harlem Quartet on December 7, with a program that includes Debussy and von Weber, along with his own classical compositions.<\/p>\n
The Invesco Piano Concerts feature both Canadian and international artists, with an unexpected result. \u201cThere\u2019s a bit of a Chopin theme,\u201d Mehta notes. One of the most highly anticipated is the Koerner Hall debut of Seong-Jin Cho. \u201cHe\u2019s a rock star in Korea,\u201d Mehta notes, along with the fact that the concert is almost sold out already. Cho was the Gold Medal winner of the 2015 Chopin International Competition, and will be performing a program of Chopin and Debussy on October 28.<\/p>\n
As luck would have it, audiences will also be able to hear from the second place winner in the 2015 Chopin International Competition, Quebecois pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin, who will be playing Schumann and Chopin on February 3. \u201cThere\u2019s an amazing Canadian talent,\u201d Mehta says. Glenn Gould School alum Jan Lisiecki will also be back on January 3 to perform works by Chopin, Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Rachmaninov.<\/p>\n
21C Festival has been extended for another five seasons, as supported by the Koerners. Among the changes to Koerner Hall\u2019s programming comes the news that the popular new music festival will be switched from May to January as of 2019.<\/p>\n
On January 17, the TSO, conducted by Tania Miller, will perform with Glenn Gould School alum Stewart Goodyear in a program that includes the debut of Goodyear\u2019s own composition. While the TSO has performed on the Koerner Hall stage before, Mehta says the TSO approached him with the idea of returning to be part of 21C for the first time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe real coup for me in 21C is getting Terry Riley here,\u201d Mehta says. The festival will feature the venerated minimalist composer in a series whimsically (and truthfully) called Terry Riley: Live at 85! The California based composer is widely considered to have launched the minimalist movement with his seminal work In C in 1964, and he will be featured in a concert on January 18 with Tracy Silverman on electric violin and his son, Gyan Riley, on electric guitar. His work will also be played in Stewart Goodyear\u2019s concert, and Riley will connect with Royal Conservatory students during his stay in Toronto.<\/p>\n
21C will also include a concert devoted to female composers later in the evening of January 18, including works by Kati Ag\u00f3cs, Carolyn Chen, Unsuk Chin, Cassandra Miller, Linda Smith, and a world premiere by Anna H\u00f6stman.<\/p>\n
The Royal Conservatory Orchestra will perform four concerts through the season, conducted by Johannes Debus, Andr\u00e1s Keller, G\u00e1bor Tak\u00e1cs-Nagy, and Bramwell Tovey. RCM faculty will be featured, as usual, in the Mazzoleni Masters series, along with Songmasters, highlighting vocal faculty members Monica Whicher, Rachel Andrist, and friends.<\/p>\n
The Sunday Interludes series presents an interesting smorgasbord of concerts\u00a0 \u2013 all of them free \u2013\u00a0 including Tom Allen\u2019s The Judgment of Paris on December 2,, based on the music of Debussy and Ravel, and flute rockstar Marina Piccinini on April 7 in a program that includes Copland and J.S. Bach.<\/p>\n
Highlights of the Season Finale Festival include pianist Murray Perahia, another programming coup for Mehta, and one of his long time goals. He\u2019ll be making his Koerner Hall debut on May 1. On May 2, the venue will present classical Indian sitar player Anoushka Shankar.<\/p>\n
Managing the programming for a busy cultural venue is an art unto itself. In some cases, acts are booked, and it\u2019s only later that patterns may emerge, as Mehta describes the process. \u201cOh, look \u2013 we have three Roma artists performing \u2013 can we put them together somehow?\u201d The program includes concerts by fiddler Roby Lakatos (April 5,) jazz pianist Robi Botos (May 4,) and a celebration of Django Reinhardt\u2019s music with the Django Festival All-Stars on November 17.<\/p>\n
Mehta describes a situation where each musical genre imposes its own set of rules. In the world of classical music, artists book 18 months up to two years ahead, while with jazz musicians, a 12 month lead time is the norm. \u201cPop \u2013 they book yesterday,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Looking back, Mehta cites the openness and curiosity of Toronto audiences, and their willingness to try new and diverse artists and genres of music for making his job rewarding. \u201cI\u2019ve opened three different venues in my career, and I tend to last about seven years,\u201d he says. \u201cYou tend to repeat yourself, and if your audience doesn\u2019t follow you, you have to leave.\u201d In Toronto, he was able to keep evolving. \u201cAny artist, of any ethnicity, that I can get, I can find 1,000 people in Toronto to come out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of that success lies in reaching out to Torontonians directly, rather than relying on a few ads to do the trick. \u201cWe can find the right people to partner with,\u201d he says, noting that Koerner Hall has made over 100 such partnerships with organizations from the TSO and COC to community ethnic cultural groups. That\u2019s important when you\u2019re programming artists from all over the globe. As Mehta notes, the venue itself has established such a reputation for guaranteeing the highest caliber of talent that his audiences are often willing to take a chance on the unknown.<\/p>\n
According to Mehta, Koerner Hall has presented about 800 concerts and hosted another 600 so far in its nine-season run. Along with the classical concerts, Koerner Hall continues to present a diverse variety of music and musicians, including jazz series, the Trailblazers series of groundbreaking Canadian artists like Grammy Award-winning pianist Chilly Gonzales, Roots and Folk series, World Music series, including the return of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and a series titled Quiet Please, there’s a lady on stage featuring Buffy Sainte-Marie and other noted female artists.<\/p>\n