![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/02\/RCM-2019-20-season-preview.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
From Renaissance opera for the 21st-century to a premiere by a Canadian jazz icon, Beethoven\u2019s 250th to a ukulele orchestra, The Royal Conservatory of Music\u2019s 2019\u201320 season preview includes 24 classical and nine jazz concerts, with a few surprises up its proverbial sleeve.<\/p>\n
Mervon Mehta, Executive Director, Performing Arts talks us through some of the highlights mentioned in the RCM\u2019s preview announcement.<\/p>\n
Listed as a \u201cmust-see\u201d in the literature is an innovative and highly acclaimed production of a little known Renaissance choral work \u2014 Orlando di Lasso\u2019s Lagrime di San Pietro<\/em> with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, as staged by noted American director Peter Sellars Sellars has made his reputation in large part with strikingly modern productions that breathe new life into the work of Renaissance and classical masters. Sellar makes the work of di Lasso, little known outside the narrow circle of Renaissance music lovers, relevant to modern audiences by emphasizing the theatrical and dramatic qualities of the performance, along with the beauty of the music.<\/p>\n \u201cMy spies in Australia and Los Angeles where they\u2019ve played have raved about it,\u201d Mehta says. The singers perform without scores, in costume, and incorporating choreography that moves them all over the stage. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely a 21st-century take on a Renaissance master,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Another choral concert to mark in the calendar features young Canadian baritone Philippe Sly. \u201cHe\u2019s been making waves in New York City,\u201d Mehta says. \u201cHe\u2019s got a glorious voice.\u201d Sly will perform with his Le Chimera Project vocal ensemble in a version of the Schubert masterwork, Winterreise, <\/em>a song cycle featuring 24 poems by Wilhelm M\u00fcller, and one of the composer\u2019s later works. The performance is staged for modern audiences with contemporary costuming and choreography.<\/p>\n The Amici Chamber Ensemble with Russell Braun, the Elmer Iseler Singers, and the Canadian Children’s Opera Company chorus will stage a choral extravaganza celebrating the 150th birthday of Armenian composer Komitas.<\/p>\n The 2019-2020 season marks the beginning of a two-year celebration of Beethoven\u2019s 250th<\/sup> birthday. \u201cWe\u2019re easing into his birthday,\u201d Mehta says. \u201cThere\u2019s so much we can do with Beethoven.\u201d The Beethoven 250 Festival begins in 2019\u201320, with even more planned for the following years season, including a special festival that will take place in December 2020, around the composer\u2019s actual birthday. For 2019\u201320, the program incorporates a multitude of Beethoven offerings, even though, as Mehta points out, unlike other venues, Koerner Hall has no resident orchestra. Luckily, the composer left a rich catalogue of chamber and choral works to explore. \u201cWe asked many of our recitalists to include as much Beethoven as possible,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Highlights of the Beethoven celebration include all Beethoven programs performed by pianists Yefim Bronfman and Louis Lortie, and a concert with pianist Jan Lisiecki and German baritone Matthias Goerne. Other concerts will incorporate the work of Beethoven performed and conducted by a cast of luminaries including Sir Andr\u00e1s Schiff, Daniil Trifonov, the Tak\u00e1cs Quartet, Pamela Frank with Emanuel Ax, and Bomsori Kim with Rafa\u0142 Blechacz.<\/p>\n The season also marks the return to Koerner Hall of Bach enthusiast Angela Hewitt with the Akademie f\u00fcr Alte Musik Berlin. \u201cShe\u2019s coming back to do The Art of the Fugue<\/em>,\u201d Mehta says. A graduate of the RCM program and a world-renowned Bach expert, Hewitt is always an audience favourite. \u201cShe sells out every time.\u201d The concert is also representative of the institution\u2019s commitment to the inclusion of women performers and composers. \u201cThat\u2019s a very conscious decision,\u201d Mehta says, noting that the 21C program for 2020 will also prominently feature many women artists and composers.<\/p>\n The season brings many of the world\u2019s noted soloists to Koerner Hall. Celebrated French pianist and Chevalier of the Ordre National de la L\u00e9gion d\u2019Honneur H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Grimaud will perform a program of Chopin, Debussy, Satie, Silvestrov, and Rachmaninov Sonata No. 2. Renowned violinist Kyung Wha Chung performed Brahms, Franck, and Beethoven with pianist Kevin Kenner in her Koerner Hall debut. Taiwanese-Australian violinist Ray Chen brings the 1715 \u201cJoachim\u201d Stradivarius violin, once owned by Hungarian violinist, Joseph Joachim, to the venue with American pianist Julio Elizalde to play Bach, Debussy, Grieg, Ravel, and Saint-Sa\u00ebns.<\/p>\n Guest conductors Tania Miller, Andrei Feher, Johannes Debus, and G\u00e1bor Tak\u00e1cs-Nagy will take the helm of the Royal Conservatory Orchestra throughout the season, with the details yet to be announced.<\/p>\n The Season Gala marks a first for the institution. \u201cIt\u2019s the first time ever a Season Gala is a jazz artist,\u201d Mehta states. Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis will perform. \u201cWhen the opportunity to bring Wynton Marsalis here comes, you jump on it,\u201d Mehta says. The Gala occasion allows the venue to bring large, higher ticket ensembles like the Lincoln Center Orchestra to town.<\/p>\n Brother Branford Marsalis will also appear in a concert at Koerner Hall during the season, with the details yet to be revealed. The jazz contingent for 2019-2020 is strong. \u201cThe jazz series will open with Chick Corea. He\u2019s reformed his trio,\u201d Mehta says. The 77-year-old jazz great will be performing with Christian McBride a celebrated bassist whose credits include Sting and McCoy Tyner, and drummer Brian Blade, who’s played with the likes of Herbie Hancock, Joni Mitchell, and the Wayne Shorter Quartet. Orbert Davis and the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic will bring a concert that celebrates 100 years of the Great Migration from the southern USA to Chicago to Toronto. Other international jazz offerings including Cuban jazz legend Chucho Vald\u00e9s, and Panamanian jazz pianist and composer Danilo P\u00e9rez and his Global Messengers who hail form Palestine, Greece, Jordan, and Panama.<\/p>\n Another highlight of the jazz series is the world premiere of Oscar Peterson\u2019s AFRICA<\/em> featuring Benny Green (piano,) Christian McBride, Jeff Hamilton (drums,) and an all-star big band. Peterson wrote his Africa Suite<\/em> in 1983, and while two of the pieces \u2013 \u201cNigerian Marketplace\u201d and \u201cPeace\u201d \u2014 eventually found their way into his concert repertoire, the suite itself was never performed in its entirety. The concert comes as a result of the venue\u2019s longstanding tradition of recognizing the work of the late Canadian jazz great. \u201cWe\u2019ve done a lot of work with Oscar Peterson\u2019s music and his proteges,\u201d Mehta says, noting his close relationship to Oscar\u2019s widow Kelly Peterson. \u201cShe brought this to us,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the only Canadian content in the jazz series, which also features an evening showcasing music of the Canadian songwriting partners the Breithaupt Brothers, with performances by Jackie Richardson, Kellylee Evans, Denzal Sinclaire, Heather Bambrick, and an all-star band, and a Christmas show featuring celebrated vocalist Holly Cole.<\/p>\n But, as Mehta notes, the nationality of the composers and performers is something of an afterthought. \u201cI don\u2019t go looking for Canadians \u2013\u2014 I go looking for great music.\u201d<\/p>\n The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain makes its Koerner Hall debut in one of the season\u2019s surprises. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit of an outlier,\u201d Mehta says, \u201cbut very fun. Check your critic\u2019s hat at the door and have fun,\u201d he says. \u201cThey kind of behave like a classical ensemble.\u201d He notes that the orchestra includes superb players and a wide repertoire from pop to classical.<\/p>\n Koerner Hall celebrates its official 10th<\/sup> birthday on September 25, 2019 \u2014 Glenn Gould\u2019s birthday \u2014 just before the venue\u2019s 11th<\/sup> season kicks off. The complete season\u2019s program of more than 100 concerts will be announced in June 2019.<\/p>\n Want more updates on Toronto-centric classical music news and reviews? Follow us on\u00a0<\/i>Facebook<\/i><\/u><\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/i>Twitter<\/i><\/u><\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for all the latest.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From Renaissance opera for the 21st century to a premiere by a Canadian jazz icon, RCM’s 2019\/20 season preview includes a few surprises up its sleeve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":58513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25164,39,63],"tags":[2198,4889,2888],"yst_prominent_words":[12458,26582,26589,26590,8851,10607,26581,6606,8845,21845,26580,7484,12881,26587,8282,7552,26588,15886,26585,25716],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/02\/RCM-2019-20-season-preview.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-fdJ","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58511"}],"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\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58511"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58518,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58511\/revisions\/58518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58511"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=58511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}LUDWIG VAN TORONTO<\/i>
\n<\/b><\/h3>\n