![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/RCM-2019-20-season.jpg\")
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Incorporating 97 concerts and events, the Royal Conservatory of Music announced a 2019\/2020 Koerner Hall season with much to please Toronto fans of classical music, along with jazz, blues, world music, and more. It\u2019s the 11th season for the venue, with 37 artists making their debut at Koerner Hall, with world premieres by Oscar Peterson, Danilo P\u00e9rez, and Allison Au, and 40 countries represented in the ambitious program.<\/p>\n
The 2019\/2020 season marks the first year of a two-year celebration of the 250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven. \u201cIt\u2019s fairly unstructured in the first year,\u201d says Mervon Mehta, Executive Director of Performing Arts. \u201cI\u2019ve just asked a number of soloists, chamber groups, our faculty, the RCO, and others to include as much Beethoven as they could to their programming.\u201d<\/p>\n
The result is a wide-ranging list of concerts, including soloists, chamber works, and two of his symphonies, sprinkled throughout the entire season. Beethoven\u2019s piano sonatas are well represented, with all-Beethoven concerts by Yefim Bronfman, Louis Lortie, and John O\u2019Conor. Irish pianist John O\u2019Conor will perform Beethoven\u2019s Piano Sonatas No. 30 through 32 \u2014 the final three sonatas, and considered both the epitome of his art and the piano sonata as a form. Acclaimed Baritone Matthias Goerne and pianist Jan Lisiecki will also present an all-Beethoven program in April.<\/p>\n \u201cThey all picked different sonatas,\u201d Mehta says of the piano soloists. \u201cYefim is doing the Appassionata and some of his early sonatas. O\u2019Conor has the last three, and Lortie somewhere in the middle. It all worked out brilliantly without too much arm twisting.\u201d As one of the most famous composers in history, it\u2019s not that Beethoven\u2019s works have been neglected. It\u2019s about reaching a deeper understanding of the master\u2019s compositions. \u201cAudiences will really understand the breadth of one of the top three…four composers in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n The Royal Conservatory Orchestra joins in the Beethoven celebrations with a performance of Beethoven Symphony No. 7 in A Major, op. 92<\/em> under conductor Johannes Debus of the Canadian Opera Company, with Richard Strauss\u2019 Don Juan<\/em>, and Keiko Abe\u2019s Prism Rhapsody<\/em> rounding out the program. Even the Glenn Gould School students get into the picture, with a performance of Beethoven\u2019s 6th Symphony under Royal Conservatory Orchestra Resident Conductor Joaquin Valdepe\u00f1as.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the 2021 season, we\u2019ll be doing a sit-down festival and a deeper dive into his work,\u201d Mehta says. That will include work that was influenced by Beethoven as well as that of the composer himself. Stewart Goodyear is well known to Toronto audiences for his Beethoven marathon of 2012. Mehta says Goodyear will be back for the 2021 Beethoven Festival, \u201cdoing something different.\u201d<\/p>\n The seventh 21C Music Festival will take place between January 11 and 25, 2020, and include eight concerts. The line-up includes three world premieres, John Patitucci\u2019s Hypocrisy<\/em>, new pieces by Barbara Croall and Allison Au, and new work by Danilo P\u00e9rez.<\/p>\n Musician, composer, avant-garde artist, and film director Laurie Anderson is one of the headliners. \u201cIt\u2019s been a dream of mine to bring her here,\u201d Mehta says. Anderson\u2019s work will be featured in an intimate Saturday afternoon concert in Temerty Theatre , as sung by students of the Glenn Gould School. That evening, Anderson herself will perform in Koerner Hall in a program that is yet to be announced. \u201cWe\u2019re still discussing that with her,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s been a long, lovely conversation.\u201d He describes an artist who can choose what to bring from her broad catalogue of work, and customize the performance for the place. \u201cShe is one of the most thoughtful performers,\u201d Mehta says. Anderson\u2019s film Heart of a Dog<\/em> will screen at the Hot Docs cinema, making it a mini-Anderson festival inside 21C.<\/p>\n One of the featured works is Against the Grain Theatre\u2019s production of Ayre and other works by Osvaldo Golijov<\/em>, an Argentinian composer. \u201cIt\u2019s a piece that Grain started in Banff \u2014 this is the full version,\u201d Mehta explains.\u00a0 The music is a fusion of various influences, including\u00a0 Arabic, Hebrew, Sardinian, and Sephardic folk melodies, and the song cycle features Lebanese-Canadian soprano and Glenn Gould School alumna, Miriam Khalil.<\/p>\n The Afterhours performance of the Festival this year spotlights another Glenn Gould School alumna, V\u00e9ronique Mathieu, in an all-Canadian program entitled True North,<\/em> with new compositions by Derek Johnson, and Canadian composers Alice Ping Yee Ho and Adam Scime. \u201cThat\u2019ll be our annual late-night show,\u201d Mehta says. The concert will take place on the evening of January 11, after the performance of Ayre<\/em>. The concert also features the world premiere of a piece by Barbara Croall, an Odawa First Nations composer, commissioned by The Royal Conservatory.<\/p>\n Indian tabla master, Zakir Hussain, and jazz acoustic bassist John Patitucci bring the Canadian premiere of Hussain\u2019s tabla concerto, Peshkar<\/em>, along with the world premiere of Patitucci\u2019s Hypocrisy for orchestra and jazz trio<\/em>. The latter will feature Danilo P\u00e9rez on piano, Brain Blade on drums, and Patitucci on bass, and the evening will end with an improv session with Hussain and the star-studded trio.<\/p>\n As it happens, Hussain just performed his work in Florence with Zubin Mehta conducting. Mervon Mehta describes calling his father to ask about the performance. With a solid endorsement, it remained to entice Hussain to come to Toronto. \u201cHe\u2019s a dream to work with,\u201d Mehta says. \u201cTo make it palatable for him to come to Toronto for one night January, we brought Zane Dalal to conduct.\u201d\u00a0 Dalal is the conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of India, and is very familiar with the work. He\u2019ll be working with the Canadian musicians in rehearsals prior to the concert.<\/p>\n The Royal Conservatory commissioned new pieces from both Danilo P\u00e9rez and his Global Messengers and the Allison Au Quartet, to premiere during the Festival, while the Glenn Gould School New Music Ensemble will play the work of Canadian Bekah Simms and other contemporary composers as part of the free Sunday Interludes series.<\/p>\n Mehta mentions Philippe Sly and his Le Chimera Project. \u201cHe\u2019s not so well known in Toronto \u2014 better known in New York.\u201d The Montreal based bass-baritone will be bringing his 21st century take on Schubert in Philippe Sly & Le Chimera Project: Winterreise<\/em>. The contemporary production takes Schubert\u2019s songs about the lonely traveller and his lost love, arranged for a Klezmer ensemble that roams the stage, becoming part of the production, with an unusual staging that highlights the drama of the songs.<\/p>\n The season offers a range of soloists from new stars to veterans. \u201cI try to see as many live as I can,\u201d says Mehta. \u201cYou can tell pretty quickly if this is an artist want to spend an evening with.\u201d<\/p>\n South Korean virtuoso Kyung Wha Chung performs with pianist Kevin Kenner in what is sure to be a crowd pleasing program of Mozart, Beethoven, and Franck. South Korean violinist, Bomsori Kim, is a multiple prize winner, racking up medals at the Tchaikovsky International Competition, the Queen Elisabeth Competition, the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition, the Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition Hannover, the Montreal International Musical Competition, and the Sendai International Music Competition \u2014 among others. Despite that fact, she\u2019s not yet a household name. \u201cI liked what I heard,\u201d Mehta says. \u201cWith the addition of Rafal, the combination of the two of them is what makes it work.\u201d Kim just released an album on Deutsche Grammophon in January 2019 with pianist Rafa\u0142 Blechacz, and they come to Koerner Hall to play Beethoven, Debussy, Szymanowski, and Faur\u00e9.<\/p>\n Mehta also mentions the power pairing of violinist Ray Chen with Julio Elizalde, and Pamela Frank with Emanuel Ax. \u201cThey are very good friends,\u201d Mehta notes of the latter pair. Violinist Frank, touring the world again after recovering from an arm injury, is matched with renowned pianist Emanuel Ax to perform Ludwig van Beethoven\u2019s Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major<\/em>, \u201cSpring\u201d, and Johannes Brahms\u2019 Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor.<\/em><\/p>\n One of the highlights of the Power Corporation Vocal Concerts series has to be the innovative production of Lagrime di San Pietro<\/em>, Renaissance master Orlando di Lasso\u2019s final work, sung a cappella by the Los Angeles Master Chorale and directed by Peter Sellars. Di Lasso knew it would be his last composition, and filled it with emotion, a quality the production emphasizes with dramatic lighting and set design in a rejuvenated interpretation.<\/p>\n Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin is acclaimed as one of the premier interpreters of Baroque music. \u201cShe\u2019s one of the great Canadian singers,\u201d Mehta says, \u201cnot a household name, but with the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, it will be an interesting concert to present.\u201d Gauvin performs with the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Vancouver\u2019s early music specialists, in a concert titled Russian White Nights: Opera arias from 18th century St. Petersburg<\/em>, mining material from a time when opera was expanding throughout Russia.<\/p>\n Art song lovers can feast on the Mazzoleni Masters: Songmasters series, featuring Glenn Gould School\u2019s vocal faculty members, soprano Monica Whicher and pianist Rachel Andrist, and friends in concerts specially programmed around a specific theme. An Afternoon with Adrianne highlights the work of Adrianne Pieczonka, newly-appointed Vocal Chair and Head of the Vocal Department. Soprano Miriam Khalil pairs up with Canadian lyric baritone Russell Braun in a program of solo and duet works, including a world-premiere by Iranian-Canadian composer, Afarin Mansouri.<\/p>\n The Glenn Gould School Fall Opera will present be Jonathan Dove\u2019s Siren Song<\/em> in November, a piece for five singers, an actor, and a 10-piece orchestra. It tells the strange but true story of a young sailor who wrote letters back and forth with a beautiful model. The relationship goes well, but meeting in person proves to be problematic. In March 2020, the School presents Maurice Ravel\u2019s musical comedy L\u2019heure espagnole<\/em>, and Giacomo Puccini\u2019s Suor Angelica<\/em>, a one-act opera.<\/p>\n There is a rich selection of chamber music concerts in store. Daniel Hope with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra play a mixed program from Bach to El-Khoury, with the acclaimed Tak\u00e1cs Quartet returning to Koerner Hall to perform Mendelssohn-Hensel, Bart\u00f3k, and Beethoven. The Akademie f\u00fcr Alte Musik Berlin makes their Koerner Hall debut with an all-Bach program that includes the Brandenburg Concertos.<\/p>\n Hungarian composers take the spotlight in a Mazzoleni Masters concert titled A Hungarian Trilogy.<\/em> Violinist Erika Raum, violist Barry Shiffman, and cellist Tom Wiebe will perform works by B\u00e9la Bart\u00f3k, Zolt\u00e1n Kod\u00e1ly, and Ern\u0151 Dohn\u00e1nyi.<\/p>\n A slew of Toronto\u2019s favourite concert pianists return to Koerner Hall. \u201cFor sure, we want to bring back our nearest and dearest friends like H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Grimaud and Angela Hewitt,\u201d Mehta says.<\/p>\n H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Grimaud, a Chevalier of the Ordre National de la L\u00e9gion d\u2019Honneur is one of France\u2019s gifts to the world of classical music. She will play a varied repertoire of Debussy, Chopin, Satie, and Silvestrov.\u00a0 A Companion of the Order of Canada, and recipient of the Governor General\u2019s Lifetime Achievement Award, among many other accolades, Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt will play Bach\u2019s Art of the Fugue<\/em> in its entirety. Hungarian-born Sir Andr\u00e1s Schiff will also make a return to Koerner Hall.<\/p>\n The Sunday Interludes series offers interesting choices, including students and faculty from the Royal Academy of Music, London, playing for their counterparts at the Glenn Gould School in November, and violinist Jinjoo Cho in her recital debut at the Royal Conservatory in December. Vietnamese-Canadian pianist, Dang Thai Son plays a program of Debussy and Chopin in April, and the Ladom Ensemble \u2014 combining piano, cello, accordion, and percussion \u2014 performs in May in an eclectic all-original repertoire. Tickets to the Sunday Interludes series are free, and become available a week before the concert online, or in person at the box office.<\/p>\n In the pop category, three-time Juno Award winner, Susan Aglukark, teams up with Lacey Hill, an Oneida singer from Six Nations of the Grand River reserve for a night of song. The season sees the return of the Maple Blues Awards and all-star concert, along with a rare solo appearance by Canadian icon Bruce Cockburn.<\/p>\n Koerner Hall continues to display a commitment to the growing world music scene, bringing artists from the Ukraine to Zimbabwe and back. Highlights include an evening with Grammy-nominated singer\/songwriter Raul Mid\u00f3n and West African guitar sensation Lionel Loueke, and a concert pairing Zimbabwean band Mokoomba and Juno Award-winning Haitian-Canadian artist Wesli \u2014 with dancing shoes required.<\/p>\n The concert featuring jazz legend Chick Corea Trilogy with Christian McBride and Brian Blade in October may be already sold out, but the jazz section still offers Chucho Vald\u00e9s, the Godfather of Cuban Jazz, with Jazz Bat\u00e1. The concert spotlights Jazz Bat\u00e1 2<\/em>, his latest release, and a modern redux of his 1972 album of the same name. Koerner Hall will premiere Oscar Peterson\u2019s 1983 work AFRICA, the first time the suite will be performed in its entirety.<\/p>\n If you had your heart set on the Season Gala with Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra on November 30, it\u2019s already sold out. Likewise, American pianist Murray Perahia\u2019s Koerner Hall debut is already sold out, along with the return of Russian sensation Daniil Trifonov in February 2020.<\/p>\n Tickets for all other shows are on sale now. Click here<\/a><\/span> for details.<\/p>\n Want more updates on classical music and opera news and reviews? Follow us on\u00a0<\/i>Facebook<\/span>,<\/i><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Instagram<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/i>Twitter<\/i><\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for all the latest.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Incorporating 97 concerts and events, the Royal Conservatory of Music announced a 2019\/20 Koerner Hall season with much to please Toronto fans of classical music, along with jazz, blues, world music, and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":60954,"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":[29608,1876,2198,2888],"yst_prominent_words":[29607,29600,7202,29601,9021,9057,29598,9059,10549,29605,7670,6606,8845,12881,6616,29606,29599,8282,10579,29597],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/RCM-2019-20-season.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-fR5","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60951"}],"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=60951"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60966,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60951\/revisions\/60966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60951"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=60951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/06\/johnpinkshirt1-72.jpg\")
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LUDWIG VAN TORONTO<\/i>
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