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collectif9 plays Gustav Mahler

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Montreal’s “Dazzling” 9-piece String Band Explores New Territory

After touring extensively across North America and in China with music from their critically-acclaimed debut album Volksmobiles, Montreal’s cutting-edge 9-piece classical string band, collectif9, brings an entirely new set list to the stage featuring the music of Gustav Mahler, including original arrangements of selections from Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2. The intimate ambiance of the Matahari Loft, delicately lit by Martin Sirois, lends a mysterious air to this acoustic evening of discovery on Saturday, April 8, starting at 8pm.

In revisiting Mahler’s first two majestic symphonies, collectif9 explores themes as profound as life and death, contrasting the torment of human existence with the immaculate splendor of nature. Whilst navigating through somber reflections and wry folk melodies, the group pays homage to Mahler’s distinct brand of irony. Despite the huge scale of instrumentation in Mahler’s symphonies, the individual voices are often woven as intricately as chamber music, and proved conducive to Thibault Bertin-Maghit’s new 9-voice reductions. Also included on the set list for April 8 are transcriptions of works by Gabriel Prokofiev, founder of London’s classical club-night series Nonclassical, and Canadian composer Derek Charke’s Falling from Cloudless Skies. (Night owls should stay late for a post-concert set from Want Slash Need.)

Since its 2011 debut, collectif9 has heralded a new age in genre-bending classical performance, attracting diverse audiences in clubs, outdoor festivals, and concert halls, often with staging, and amplification – as well as charisma – more commonly seen at rock shows. Their debut recording, featuring the world premiere of Canadian composer Geof Holbrook’s Volksmobiles was called “dazzling” (The WholeNote) and “an eclectic mix of five folk-inspired tunes, each attacked with vigor and verve … [from] an ensemble that has the potential to go very far indeed.” (La Scena Musicale) Recent appearances include an extensive cross-Canada tour, debuts in New York and several other US cities, and a 3-city tour to China.

collectif9 is: Thibault Bertin-Maghit, leader and bass; John Corban, Yubin Kim, Robert Margaryan, and Liz Skinner, violins; Scott Chancey and Xavier Lepage-Brault, violas; Andrea Stewart, and Jérémie Cloutier, cellos.

www.collectif9.ca

BEETHOVEN ~ PASSION ROMANTIQUE: The Montreal Chamber Music Festival’s 22nd Season

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January 24, 2017

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May 26 ~ June 18, 2017

Pre-Festival Prestige Series ~ February 1, May 6, and May 10

The Montreal Chamber Music Festival presents Beethoven: Passion romantique, dedicating its 22^nd season to the spirit of Beethoven, the great master who represents the transition from the Classical to the Romantic era. Founder and Artistic Director Denis Brott, C.M. has featured the music of Beethoven on almost all Festival concerts, anchored by the performance of the complete Beethoven string quartets over six concerts by the extraordinary Dover Quartet, who have “enjoyed a “rise to the top [that] looks practically meteoric” (Strings Magazine). Denis Brott comments: “Like no other composer, Beethoven ushered in a new musical language inspired by the French Revolution’s Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité. Beethoven’s remarkable prowess and indomitable spirit has influenced all music since, and his emotional expression and compositional innovation continue to inspire and resonate. The Festival celebrates his genius with gratitude and gusto in 2017.”

This 22^nd Festival season, which is preceded by a three-concert “Prestige Series”, features many more extraordinary artists, including superstar Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki, a world premiere by Yoav Talmi, the Israeli Chamber Project, the Rolston String Quartet, the always-popular jazz series with Rémi Bolduc, Robi Botos, and Natalie MacMaster, and much more. A total of 43 events, at all times of day, fill out the Festival schedule for more concerts, more free events, and more Beethoven than ever before!

PRE-FESTIVAL PRESTIGE SERIES

To open the 2017 season and the Prestige Series, the Festival is thrilled to welcome back close friends, the Emerson String Quartet for a recital on February 1 at 7:30 pm at Salle Bourgie. This unmatched quartet is celebrating its remarkable 40^th anniversary season with a delightful program of Mozart’s Quartet No. 15, K.421; Ravel’s Quartet in F Major; and Tchaikovsky’s String Quartet No. 3.

Beethoven Words & Music brings together several of the composer’s chamber works with texts from his journals and letters for a wonderfully intimate evening on Saturday, May 6 at 7:30 pm at Théâtre Paul-Desmarais, Canadian Centre for Architecture. The elegant Israeli pianist Alon Goldstein, who thrilled Festival audiences last season with his performances of Mozart concerti in transcriptions for string quartet, returns alongside violinist Andrew Wan, cellist Denis Brott, and narrators in English and French, Eric Friesen and Julie Payette, respectively.

The final event of the Pre-Festival Prestige Series is Casanova, a theatrical collaboration with Montreal’s Ensemble Caprice on Wednesday, May 10 at 8 pm at Pollack Hall. Acclaimed baritone Michael Volle takes on the persona of the 18th-century Italian adventurer, best known for his legendary womanizing, in an evening featuring music by Mozart, Vivaldi, and Gluck, with soprano Sharon Azrieli Perez.

THE BEETHOVEN STRING QUARTETS: DOVER QUARTET & McGILL LECTURE SERIES

Described by The New Yorker as “the young American string quartet of the moment,” the Dover String Quartet catapulted to attention after sweeping the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition, and has quickly become a major presence on the international scene. With its burnished warmth, incisive rhythms, and natural phrasing, the quartet’s sound is “so distinctive as to be identified within mere minutes” (Philadelphia Inquirer). The Dover Quartet will perform the complete Beethoven String Quartet cycle for the Festival, taking place over six concerts, all at Pollack Hall: May 26, 28; June 2, 4, 9, and 11. In partnership with the Festival, McGill’s School of Continuing Education presents a series of bilingual lectures on the Beethoven quartets, directed by Richard Turp with guest speakers including Raffi Armenian, Denis Brott, and Julie Payette.

The Dover Quartet also joins current Banff International String Quartet Competition torch bearers, the Rolston String Quartet for a concert of award winners on Thursday, June 8 at 7:30 pm at Pollack Hall. Music will include Mendelssohn’s famous String Octet, Op. 20 and the Quebec premiere of Quartet No. 1 by Zosha di Castri, which was written for last summer’s Banff competition.

THE ART OF JAN LISIECKI

The Festival is thrilled to present two concerts featuring the spectacular young pianist Jan Lisiecki. Just 21 years-old, Lisiecki has won acclaim around the world for his extraordinary interpretive maturity, distinctive sound, and poetic sensibility. The New York Times has called him “a pianist who makes every note count” while Classic FM, praising his most recent album for Deutsche Grammophon, wrote: “he may be young but Jan Lisiecki plays like a legend.” Jan’s new album of orchestral works by Chopin, with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, also for Deutsche Grammophon, will be released in March.

On Wednesday, June 14 at 7:30 pm at Pollack Hall, Jan is joined by cellist Denis Brott in a recital of works by Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin. Then, on Friday, June 16 at 7:30 pm, he performs a solo piano programme including works by Beethoven and Chopin, closing with an arrangement for piano and string quintet of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, with the Festival Strings.

TD JAZZ SERIES – 3 SPECTACULAR SATURDAY NIGHTS

The Festival’s popular TD Jazz Series always brings in tremendous artists from home and away for three fun-filled evenings, and this year is no exception. The three Saturday night concerts all take place at Salle Bourgie, beginning at 7:30 pm.

On June 3, Canadian saxophone icon Rémi Bolduc brings his dazzling virtuosity, refreshing style and magnetic stage presence to the Festival for a new programme: Tribute to George Shearing: Lullaby of Birdland. To salute the legendary pianist, Bolduc brings along a group of outstanding musicians including François Bourassa, piano; Neil Swainson on bass; Pat Labarbera on tenor saxophone, and drummer Rich Irwin, for an unforgettable evening.

Robi Botos is a virtuosic pianist, rooted in everything from Eastern European folk to classical to modern jazz. The Oscar Peterson protégé, and recent Juno winner for “Jazz Album of the Year” for his Movin’ Forward, takes the stage on June 10 with bassist Mike Downes and drummer Larnell Lewis.

To close out the jazz series on June 17, the Festival welcomes beloved Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster and her quartet. Over the course of 11 record releases, including numerous gold albums, and three decades of performing thousands of live shows, often collaborating with a multitude of world renowned artists, MacMaster has remained true to her traditional and invigorating jigs, reels, and strathspeys, always leaving her audience clapping and hollering for more.

THE ISRAELI CHAMBER PROJECT & TWO PREMIERES

The Israeli Chamber Project comes to the Festival for two concerts at Pollack Hall, both with thrilling premieres. This dynamic ensemble, based in both Israel and New York, comprises strings, winds, and piano, all of them brilliant, prize-winning players. Time Out New York calls them “a band of world-class soloists … in which egos dissolve and players think, breathe and play as one.”

On Tuesday, June 13 at 7:30 pm, clarinettist Tibi Cziger and cellist Michal Korman are highlighted in the Canadian premiere of Shulamit Ran’s Private Game for clarinet and cello. They are joined by pianist Assaff Weisman, violinists Yehonatan Berick and Carmit Zori, and violist Nitai Zori, for works by Bartók, Weber, and Brahms. The concert on Thursday, June 15 at 7:30 pm, features the world premiere of Quintet for Clarinet by acclaimed Israeli conductor, composer, and pianist Yoav Talmi, well-known to Quebec audiences following his 13-year tenure as Artistic Director of the Quebec Symphony. Talmi will be joined by his colleagues including pianist Alon Goldstein in a concert that will include Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances for four hands and Quintet for Piano and Strings No. 2.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT BANK WINNERS: A CONCERT FOR FAMILIES

The Montreal Chamber Music Festival once again proudly highlights the talents of the next generation of brilliant classical musicians, including the latest crop of winners of the Canada Council’s Musical Instrument Bank. On Sunday, June 18 at 3:00 pm at Pollack Hall, the young musicians will perform a delightful and family- friendly programme, on the exceptional collection of great violins and cellos by such legendary makers as Antonio Stradivarius and Guarnerius del Gesù, valued at over 40 million dollars.

Four different superb violinists, to include Dennis Kim, Timothy Chooi and recent OSM Manulife Competition winner Blake Pouliot, take the lead in the movements of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, performed with narration and projections. The ensemble will also perform Beethoven’s Quartet No. 11, Op. 95, as arranged for string ensemble by Mahler, and Saint-Saëns’ whimsical favourite, The Carnival of the Animals, narrated by Julie Payette.

NEW AND FREE!

Matinées musicales

Join us for free concerts on Saturday morning June 10 and 17. Coffee and croissants are served starting at 10:30 am at Tanna Schulich Hall, with the 1-hour concerts starting at 11:00 am.

Smartphone Concerts

Keep your smartphone turned on Tuesday, June 13 and Thursday, June 15 from 5:15 – 6pm for our unique concerts in the lobby of Tanna Schulich Hall. Capture the concerts, featuring the young Instrument Bank string players, in your own unique style and post them for an online video competition.

Concerts dans les rues

A series of free noon-hour concerts featuring up-and-coming musicians, at noon each day from Monday, June 12 to Friday, June 16, locations TBC.

Sunday Concerts at Saint Joseph’s Oratory

Free concerts each Sunday during the Festival: May 28, June 4, June 11, and June 18 – all at 3:30 pm. More information at http://www.saint-joseph.org/en/culture/the-music/sunday-concerts/

ALL FESTIVAL TICKETS ON SALE VIA ADMISSION

www.admission.com or 1 855 790-1245 and at all Admission outlets

Tickets for all Festival concerts:

Regular: $ 61.84 / Seniors: $ 51.50 / Students 26 and under: $ 28.50

Children 12 and under, accompanied by an adult: FREE

Taxes and fees included

festivalmontreal.org

Opera McGill Presents Die Fledermaus ~ A Glittering 60th Anniversary Production!

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December 20, 2016

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This season, Opera McGill proudly celebrates 60 incredible years of training, mentoring, and nurturing young artists. The showpiece of this diamond anniversary season is a new production of Die Fledermaus, the beloved and lighthearted masterwork by Johann Strauss II, last presented by Opera McGill in its 30^th anniversary season, in 1986. Opera McGill Director Patrick Hansen serves as both Music and Stage Director for this glamorous new production, to be sung in German with German dialogue, with surtitles in French and English. Dramatic sets and costumes inspired by Gustav Klimt in black, white and gold are by the Opera McGill design team, all of whom are alumni of the National Theatre School: Vincent Lefèvre (sets), Ginette Grenier (costumes), Serge Filiatrault (lighting), and Florence Cornet (makeup). Die Fledermaus receives three performances, January 26, 27 and 28, at the Monument National’s Salle Ludger-Duvernay, a rare move to a major Montreal venue off-campus for Opera McGill.

Strauss’s operetta Die Fledermaus (The Bat) premiered in 1874 and its gorgeous melodies, waltzes, and wit – and featuring deceptions and disguises among friends and lovers – made it an immediate part of the regular operatic repertory. The opera centers upon an extravagant masquerade ball hosted by a Russian prince. Opera McGill will maintain the tradition of featuring surprise “guests” at the ball, which will include appearances by some of the program’s illustrious alumni. Several current Opera McGill students are already making impressive forays in the operatic world, including mezzo-soprano Simone McIntosh (Prince Orlofsky), who recently won First Prize at the Canadian Opera Company’s annual Ensemble Studio Competition as well as the $25,000 Wirth Vocal Prize for 2016-2017. (Wirth Prize finalists Jean-Philippe Mc Clish and Igor Mostovoi will alternate in the role of the devious Dr. Falke.)

This season also marks the 10th anniversary of Patrick Hansen’s tenure as Director of Opera McGill, a program that was founded in 1956 by Edith and Luciano Della Pergola. Hansen continues to forge a unique career throughout North America as an operatic conductor, vocal coach, and stage director working with such companies as Lyric Opera of Chicago, Pittsburgh Opera, Tulsa Opera, The Juilliard Opera Center, Glimmerglass Opera, and Florida Grand Opera. Hansen has been praised by The New York Times for his “lithe pacing and vivid colors” (conductor, Bluebeard’s Castle) and by Opera Canada for capturing “the opera’s bohemian vitality” for his stage direction of La bohème.

Regarding his dual roles of conducting and staging Opera McGill’s new Die Fledermaus, Hansen says: “I was initially trained in opera by Robert Larsen who conducted and directed every opera he produced. Robert believed that operatic text and music were intrinsically connected, as do I, and when one is properly focused on that connection it makes a great deal of sense to not separate the two by separating conducting and directing responsibilities. In my work as a conductor, I focus on letting the text be sung and acted with as much character as possible. In my work as a director, I help the singers physicalize the music given to them by the composer. For me, music and text are one.”

About Opera McGill

As one of the leading opera training programs in North America, Opera McGill’s students come from all over Canada, the United States, and Europe. At least three new productions are created each season: a mainstage opera with orchestra, a baroque opera with period instruments and tuning (in collaboration with the Early Music program), and a “black box” production. Additionally, Opera McGill has inaugurated a series of Community and Educational Engagement and Events that allow students to perform off- campus in the Montreal area as well as in the CEGEPs and elementary schools.

About the Schulich School of Music

Founded in 1904, the Schulich School of Music of McGill University embodies the highest international standards of excellence in professional training and research. The School is renowned for its programs in orchestra, opera, jazz, early music and contemporary music. Its status as a leader in sound recording and music technology provides unique possibilities for collaboration with the larger musical community. Recognized as one of the major music schools in North America, the Schulich School of Music has more than 850 students, 240 faculty members and top programs in research and technology. It hosts some 700 concerts and events each year.

Trio Magnifico ~ The Ultimate Opera Gala! April 25, 2017 in Toronto

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October 14, 2016

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Svetlana Dvoretsky of Show One Productions in collaboration with the Canadian Opera Company, Alexander Neef, General Director, is proud to present the world premiere appearance of a trio of today’s most remarkable opera stars. Trio Magnifico: The Ultimate Opera Gala stars soprano Anna Netrebko, today’s reigning prima donna in her Canadian debut, outstanding tenor Yusif Eyazov, and the dynamic Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, for a truly magnificent evening of opera arias, duets, and trios, never before experienced. Italian conductor Jader Bignamini conducts the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra in the Gala concert on Tuesday, April 25 at 7:30 pm at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto. Tickets go on sale on Thursday, October 20 at 10:00 am (11:00 in person at the COC box office).

With her distinctively beautiful voice, abundant charisma, and arresting stage presence, Anna Netrebko is acclaimed for her performances around the world. Since her triumphant Salzburg Festival debut in 2002, Netrebko has gone on to appear with nearly all the world’s great opera companies, from the Metropolitan Opera to London’s Royal Opera House, and from the Paris Opera to La Scala. The Russian soprano frequently returns to the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg to collaborate with her long time mentor, conductor Valery Gergiev. Her extensive discography includes several award-winning albums on Deutsche Grammophon including the newly-released Verismo, which has received enormous acclaim worldwide, claiming the No. 1 spot on the Classical charts and even entering the Pop charts in several countries. “Nothing short of magnificent,” says the San Francisco Chronicle, “a powerful artistic statement from a great and still growing singer.” And The Observer raves, “Verismo reveals Netrebko is more than just a star; her performances of arias and scenes from Italian opera highlight an artistry that is both subtle and thrilling.”

In recent weeks, Netrebko has been joined on stage by her husband, tenor Yusif Eyvazov in a series of hugely successful concerts in Hamburg, Cologne, Sochi, Budapest and Moscow. Eyvazov, born in Algeria and raised in Azerbaijan, has been praised by The Los Angeles Times as “an exciting tenor whose sound is metallic, stentorian and markedly Italianate.” This past season he starred in the Los Angeles Opera production of I Pagliacci conducted by Plácido Domingo, and made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Calaf in Turandot, along with debuts at the Paris Opera and Salzburg Festival. This season, Eyvazov returns to the Bolshoi Theatre, Bayerische Staatsoper, Prague Opera, and Mariinsky Theatre in major roles.

Siberian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky has mesmerized audiences around the world with his majestic voice and dashing presence, acclaimed for his “smouldering manner” (Financial Times) and “confidence, daring, exceptional technique and a caramel-colored voice (Washington Post). Hvorostovsky has performed under the Show One Productions umbrella for almost a decade, in a variety of recital and opera programs. His career has taken him to all the world’s major opera houses and renowned international festivals, and he is a celebrated recitalist in demand in every corner of the globe. Dmitri was the first opera singer to give a solo concert with orchestra and chorus on Red Square in Moscow – an event which was televised in over 25 countries. His extensive and award-winning discography spans recitals and complete operas. His current season includes appearances at the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Wiener Staatsoper, Gran Teatro del Liceu Barcelona and his debut at the Bolshoi, as well as extensive concert and recital tours.

Jader Bignamini is Resident Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica la Verdi in Milan. Recent career highlights include his Asian debut at the Otsu Biwako Hall in Japan and his South American debut at the Teatro Municipal de Sao Paulo. Upcoming engagements include Andrea Chénier at the Tokyo National Opera; La Traviata at Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera, directed by Sofia Coppola; La Traviata at the Arena of Verona; and Manon Lescaut at the Bolshoi with Anna Netrebko. Bignamini was born in Crema, Italy, and studied at the Piacenza Music Conservatory.

The COC Orchestra has received worldwide acclaim for its musical versatility and range of expression. Under German-born conductor Johannes Debus, who was appointed Music Director of the Canadian Opera Company in 2009, the Orchestra’s quality and consistency has only increased. In addition to winning the love and respect of his colleagues, Mr. Debus has captivated Toronto and international critics with an emphasis on artistic excellence and riveting musical presentation, as evidenced by a recent performance of Wagner’s Siegfried when “Debus was deeply into the music, but careful to keep each emotion and sentiment in its place. And his orchestra played their hearts out for him – as good as the COC Orchestra has ever sounded” (Globe and Mail).

Formed in 2004 by Svetlana Dvoretsky, Show One Productions is a full scope production company that presents concerts with high-profile classical musicians, opera stars, and orchestras, as well as great dance and theatre companies. For over a decade, Show One Has presented thousands of performances on Canada’s best stages and concert halls and has made many Canadian debuts possible including the upcoming “Trio Magnifico.” Show One Productions’ presentations to date include: Valery Gergiev and Mariinsky Orchestra; Yannick Nezet-Seguin and the Rotterdam Philharmonic; Vladimir Spivakov and National Philharmonic of Russia and Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra; Orchestre National de France, opera stars Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Sondra Radvanovsky; soloists Denis Matsuev, Mischa Maisky, Ann-Sophie Mutter, and Mutter Virtuosi, amongst many others.

Artists and dates subject to change.

TRIO MAGNIFICO: The Ultimate Opera Gala

Tuesday, April 25 at 7:30 pm

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

TICKETS: $55 – $345 Grand Ring Box Seats $450 Ÿ Standing Room available day of the performance at $50

Prices include HST, $9 box office charge for phone and online sales

WWW.COC.CA or 416 363-8231 or 1-800 1-800-250-4653

In person at 145 Queen Street West, Toronto (Mon to Sat, 11am – 6pm)

www.ShowOneProductions.ca

Opera McGill Celebrates Diamond Anniversary Season

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September 27, 2016

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Opera McGill marks 60 incredible years of training, mentoring, and nurturing young artists with a celebratory season featuring Handel’s magical Alcina at Pollack Hall, a glittering Die Fledermaus at the Monument National, and an innovative Opera Binge Festival featuring no less than seven one-act operas in 24 hours at multiple venues. This season also marks the 10th anniversary of Patrick Hansen’s tenure as Director of Opera McGill. Remarkably, Hansen is only the third director in the acclaimed program’s 60-year history, following his predecessor Dixie Ross-Neill and founding directors Edith and Luciano Della Pergola.

“This season we delight in celebrating our past, present and future with Handel, Johann Strauss, and several modern operas, including a North America premiere,” comments Patrick Hansen, continuing, “Opera McGill has much to be proud of after 60 years, with its impressive track record of helping to transform talented young singers into artists on the world’s great stages.”

Indeed, Opera McGill alumni may be found everywhere in the world of opera – from all of the major artist training programs in Canada, and many in the US – to the great opera stages of the world. Along with superstar singers like bass-baritone Gordon Bintner (Canadian Opera Company); soprano Tracy Cantin (Chicago Lyric Opera); and mezzo soprano Rihab Chaieb (Metropolitan Opera), to name just a few, Opera McGill grads are forging their place in the worlds of musical direction, like Michael Shannon, a coach at San Francisco’s Merola program; and Jordan de Souza, the new Head of Music at Berlin’s Komische Oper.

The season opens with Handel’s Alcina, continuing Opera McGill’s annual tradition of presenting a Baroque opera in collaboration with the Schulich School of Music’s Early Music Area. In celebration of his 10^th anniversary, Patrick Hansen remounts his striking 2008 production, with sets by Vincent Lefèvre, costumes by Ginette Grenier, lighting by Serge Filiatrault, and makeup by Florence Cornet, who are the design team of Opera McGill. Set in a mystical world of knights and sorcerers, love and magic, Alcina, which premiered in 1735, features some of Handel’s most magnificent writing. Hank Knox conducts the McGill Baroque Orchestra in performances on November 5 and 7 at 7:30 pm and November 6 at 2:00 pm, all at Pollack Hall. (Performances on November 6 and 7 will also be webcast.)

In conjunction with the opening of Alcina, Opera McGill is throwing open the Wirth Opera Studio doors for a Homecoming event on Saturday, November 5. The alumni reunion – welcoming singers, pianists, orchestra members, directors, stage managers, designers, patrons, faculty or staff – features a full day of symposia, masterclasses, and receptions, leading up to the opening night of Alcina. The day includes an Entrepreneurship Symposium with alumni panelists, a masterclass with David Lefkowich (who will be in Montreal directing Don Giovanni at Opéra de Montréal), and more.

On March 10 and 11, Opera McGill invites audiences to indulge in the Lisl Wirth Black Box Opera Binge Festival, a deliciously packed day – and two evenings – of opera in multiple venues around Montreal. Early operas include Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and Mozart’s comic delight The Impresario, in a premiere adaptation by Patrick Hansen. Massenet’s Romantic Le portrait de Manon is paired with Ravel’s L’heure espagnole. A lively addition to the day is the children’s opera by Malcolm Fox, Sid the Serpent Who Wanted to Sing. The day culminates at Théatre Paradoxe, with a double bill of Bartók’s Bluebeard Castle and the North American premiere of East o’the Sun, West o’the Moon by James Garner. Opera McGill’s Opera Binge Festival will undoubtedly satisfy the opera aficionado, neophyte, and opera-curious!

Opera McGill 2016/17 Season

ALCINA GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL

NOVEMBER 5 AND 7, 2016 7:30 p.m. $30 / $20 POLLACK HALL

NOVEMBER 6, 2016 2:00 p.m. $30 / $20 POLLACK HALL

Hank Knox, conductor; Patrick Hansen, stage director; McGill Baroque Orchestra

In collaboration with the Early Music Area

DIE FLEDERMAUS JOHANN STRAUSS II

JANUARY 26 TO 28, 2017 7:30 p.m. $40 / $35 / $20

MONUMENT-NATIONAL: LUDGER-DUVERNAY HALL

Patrick Hansen, conductor and stage director; McGill Symphony Orchestra

Lisl Wirth Black Box OPERA BINGE Festival

BINGE FESTIVAL PASS (LIMITED QUANTITY) $65 / $45

MARCH 10, 2017 7:30 p.m. $15 / $10 REDPATH HALL

HENRY PURCELL Dido & Æneas

Stephen Hargreaves, music director; Jessica Derventzis, stage director

MARCH 11, 2017 11:00 a.m. $10 * WIRTH OPERA STUDIO

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART The Impresario (Premiere of a new adaptation by Patrick Hansen)

Jack Olszewski, music director; Patrick Hansen, stage director

* TICKET PRICE INCLUDES COFFEE AND A BAGEL

MARCH 11, 2017 1:00 p.m. $10 / $5 / $20 Family Pass (4) POLLACK HALL

MALCOLM FOX Sid the Serpent Who Wanted to Sing (60-minute interactive opera for kids! Ages 5-12)

Patrick Hansen, music director and stage director

MARCH 11, 2017 3:30 p.m. $25 / $15 CHAPELLE HISTORIQUE DU BON-PASTEUR

JULES MASSENET Le portrait de Manon

MAURICE RAVEL L’heure espagnole

Olivier Godin, music director; Jonathan Patterson, stage director

MARCH 11, 2017 8:00 p.m. $25 / $15 THEATRE PARADOXE

BELA BARTOK A kékszakállú herceg vára (Bluebeard’s Castle)

JAMES GARNER East o’the Sun, West o’the Moon

Stephen Hargreaves, music director; Patrick Hansen, stage director

BOX OFFICE

555 Sherbrooke Street W | In person or by phone: Monday – Friday, noon to 6:00 p.m.

514-398-4547

To buy tickets online and for more information please see: www.mcgill.ca/music

@operamcgill #operamcgill

Cantor Gideon Zelermyer and the Synagogue Choir of Montreal’s Congregation Shaar Hashomayim Featured On Leonard Cohen’s “You Want It Darker”

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September 21, 2016

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New Album from Sony Music To Be Released October 21st, 2016

When Leonard Cohen, iconic songwriter, poet and artist – who turns 82 today – was looking for the sound of the synagogue of his youth for his new album, he turned to that very same synagogue: Montreal’s Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, along with its magnificent Cantor, Gideon Zelermyer, and professional all-male choir. Working with Adam Cohen, producer of the album and Leonard’s son, Shaar Hashomayim Music Director Roï Azoulay arranged the choral backing on two new tracks, “You Want It Darker” – the album’s first single, released today – and “It Seemed the Better Way.” Cantor Zelermyer and the Synagogue Choir recorded their vocals in Montreal, including a dramatic cantorial improvisation at the end of “You Want It Darker.”

Speaking about why he chose the sounds of Cantor Zelermyer and the Synagogue Choir for his newest release, Leonard Cohen said: “These beautiful harmonies have been echoing in my mind since childhood. I am deeply grateful to Gideon and the Shaar choir for lending their great gifts to my songs.” Shaar Hashomayim, founded in 1846, was where the 13 year-old Leonard had his Bar Mitzvah, and where both his grandfather and great-grandfather served as Presidents of the congregation.

Cantor Zelermyer comments, “Leonard Cohen could have contacted anyone in the music world to sing backing vocals on his new record. Why did he contact us? Cohen first heard the words ‘Who by Fire?’ in our sanctuary, the same place that he first heard a choir sing ‘Hallelujah!’ and a cantor sing ‘Hineni’ [Here I Am, Lord], which is heard in ‘You Want It Darker’. He remembers where he came from and is proud of his heritage as a Jew, as a Montrealer and as a member of Shaar Hashomayim.”

In a personal email to Zelermyer, Cohen wrote, “I am pleased that my enduring association with the Shaar be known to the Congregation, and that our work together reflects our love for the place, the people, and the tradition,” signed with his Hebrew name, Eliezer.

The new collection of startling songs is available for pre-order today:

Album pre-order: http://smarturl.it/YWIDalbumDL

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Shaar Hashomayim also hosts two major concerts this season in celebration of the Congregation’s 170^th Anniversary. On November 10, SH’MA (Shaar Hashomayim Music & Arts) presents, in co-operation with the McGill Chamber Orchestra, The Unsung: Women Wartime Heroes. The touching programme, taking place just before Remembrance Day, features music by Samuel Barber, Ernest Bloch, John Williams, and the premiere of “Cantata for the Unsung” by James M. Stephenson, based on the poem “In Flanders Fields.” This coming spring, on May 21, 2017, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, conducted by Kent Nagano, will come to Shaar Hashomayim in a landmark performance of Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah. Further details to be announced.

Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, the oldest and largest traditional Ashkenazic congregation in Canada, was established in 1846 and continues a musical tradition that stretches back to the great synagogues of the major capitals of the Old World. Its professional male choir dates back to 1887. Earlier this year, the Cantor and Choir had the honour of being invited to perform at the United Nations in New York City, marking the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.

Cantor Gideon Zelermyer is a graduate of the Tel Aviv Cantorial Institute, where he studied with Naftali Herstik, Chief Cantor Emeritus of the Jerusalem Great Synagogue. Cantor Zelermyer has performed around the world as a featured soloist. He and the Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue Choir have toured North America and the United Kingdom and their series of recordings, “The Music of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim” has received widespread critical acclaim.

Music Director Roï Azoulay is an orchestral and choral conductor. He graduated with honours from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance where he studied under Mendy Rodan, Eugene Zirlin and Doron Salomon. Roï has conducted the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Chamber Orchestra, the McGill Chamber Orchestra, and the Israeli Sinfonietta, and was Music Director of the Great Synagogue Choir in Strasbourg, France. In May 2017, Roï will make his conducting debut with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal.

Inaugural Concert for the Azrieli Music Project: Compositions by Brian Current, Wlad Marhulets, Mahler and Bernstein

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September 16, 2016

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Maestro Kent Nagano is conducting the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal on Wednesday, October 19 at 8 p.m. at Maison symphonique de Montréal in a concert presenting a reflection on tradition, identity and on the universal character of music. Four wonderful soloists – tenor Frédéric Antoun, pianist Serhiy Salov, clarinetist André Moisan and soprano Sharon Azrieli Perez – and the OSM Chorus will join forces with the Orchestra on stage to perform masterworks by Bernstein and Mahler along with a spectacular concerto for clarinet by Wlad Marhulets, the inaugural winner of the Azrieli Prize in Jewish Music. The audience will also hear the world premiere of a groundbreaking and epic work by Brian Current, The Seven Heavenly Halls, winner of the Azrieli Commissioning Competition. The event is being presented in collaboration with the Azrieli Foundation.

The Azrieli Music Project is a daring and ambitious new initiative, fostering the creation of new orchestral works on a grand scale that is rarely seen. This first edition presents composers of two major new works reflecting on the history, culture and traditions of Jewish experience. While the Jewish experience is a central theme of this program, music remains a universal language that transcends culture, ethnicity, time and place.

Commenting on the partnership with the Azrieli Foundation, Music Director Kent Nagano stated: “The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal is delighted to take part in this ground-breaking new initiative, which sets an impressive example for both philanthropy and creation in Canada. On behalf of the OSM, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Azrieli Foundation for spearheading this collaborative project.”

Dr. Sharon Azrieli Perez (also performing excerpts from Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder) inaugurated the project in 2015, stating, “Music has always played an important role in the development of cultural identities; it reflects history and soul. In creating these extraordinary opportunities for composers of music inspired by Jewish experience, we hope to sustain music’s vital continuity through the long and rich history of Jewish people and culture. The Azrieli Music Project is a medium for innovation, creation and risk-taking by today’s most inspired orchestral composers.”

Programme:

The World Premiere of Brian Current’s magisterial The Seven Heavenly Halls for orchestra, chorus and tenor solo (with Frédéric Antoun, tenor)
Wlad Marhulets’ virtuoso Concerto for Klezmer Clarinet for orchestra and clarinet solo (with André Moisan, clarinet)
Bernstein’s rarely heard The Age of Anxiety for piano and orchestra (with Serhiy Salov, piano)
Mahler’s sublime Adagietto for orchestra and Rückert-Lieder (excerpts) for soprano and orchestra (with Sharon Azrieli Perez, soprano)

A pre-concert discussion will be held in French and English starting at 7:00 pm on the Parterre level lobby of Maison symphonique. Kelly Rice will moderate the discussion which will include composers Brian Current, Wlad Marhulets, and composer and AMP jury member Ana Sokolović.

Details of works to be performed:

Brian Current’s The Seven Heavenly Halls is a work of grand proportions, calling for full orchestra and chorus, and a tenor soloist. This 25-minute piece was inspired by the ancient Kabbalistic book of the Zohar, with a scale harkening back to the golden age of great symphonic music. “While reading through the Zohar, I immediately heard turbulent and gestural music full of orchestral colours,” says Current. “Even more inspiring was the reference to the Sefer Hekalot or the Seven Heavenly Halls, a series of ecstatic stages where each vision is marked by a different colour.”

Wlad Marhulets’ Concerto for Klezmer Clarinet brings the lively folk traditions of central Europe to the concert hall. Born in Minsk in 1986, Marhulets moved with his family to Gdansk, Poland as a child. It was there, at the age of 16, that he first heard a recording by acclaimed klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer. “Listening to this modern reinvention of klezmer music changed my life,” says Marhulets, who soon after moved to New York City, where he met Krakauer and was taken under the wing of Oscar-winning composer John Corigliano. Marhulets’s Klezmer Clarinet Concerto was premiered by Krakauer and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Andrew Litton, in 2009.

Gustav Mahler, Jewish by birth, fought persecution throughout his entire career. Fifty years later Leonard Bernstein was able to celebrate his Jewish cultural heritage openly and to critical acclaim. Works by Mahler and Bernstein on this program bear witness to the history of composers who struggled to express personal and cultural identity through the universal language of music.

Since its founding in 1934, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) has made a name for itself as a leading orchestra in Quebec and Canada. The OSM is a cultural ambassador of the highest order, having earned an enviable international reputation for its many quality recordings and tours. The OSM proudly upholds this tradition under the leadership of its current music director, Kent Nagano, by featuring innovative programming that aims to rejuvenate the orchestra’s repertoire and strengthen its connection with the community. Over the years, the OSM has gone on tour approximately 40 times (with the most recent being a coast-to-coast tour of the United States from March 14 to 26, 2016) and roughly 30 excursions in Canada and abroad. The Orchestra has more than 100 recordings to its name on the Decca, EMI, Philips, CBC Records, Analekta, ECM and Sony labels, as well as on its own label. These recording have earned some 50 national and international awards.

The Azrieli Music Project (AMP) is a newly-established initiative of the Azrieli Foundation. Inspired by the creative vision of Dr. Sharon Azrieli Perez, AMP aims to celebrate, foster and create opportunities for the performance of high quality new orchestral music on a Jewish theme or subject.

The Azrieli Foundation is a Canadian philanthropic organization that supports a wide range of initiatives and programs in the fields of education, architecture and design, Jewish community, Holocaust commemoration and education, scientific and medical research, and the arts. www.azrielifoundation.org/music

Cellist Matt Haimovitz Reaches New Heights in His Intense Engagement with the Bach Suites with Six Commissions and Premiere Recordings

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August 11, 2016

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Matt Haimovitz’s continuously-evolving and intense engagement with the Bach Cello Suites reaches a new zenith with Overtures to Bach, six new commissions that anticipate and reflect each of the cello suites. The new overtures expand upon the multitude of spiritual, cross-cultural, and vernacular references found in the Bach, building a bridge from the master’s time to our own. Overtures to Bach, released internationally on the PENTATONE Oxingale Series in August, follows the 2015 release of Haimovitz’s profound new interpretation of the Bach Suites, inspired and informed by an authoritative manuscript by Bach’s second wife and performed on period instruments.

“I’ve been playing and thinking about the Bach Cello Suites for over three decades,” says Haimovitz, “and with these new commissions – a culminating moment in my relationship with the Suites – I feel like I’m giving back to Bach. I’ve asked six composers, whom I admire so much, to engage with his music. It’s my form of time travel – going back into the mind of Bach through the compositional process of these composers today.”

Overtures to Bach pairs each of the new works with the Prélude, newly recorded here, from the Suite it introduces. Philip Glass simply and eloquently prepares the audience for the first Suite with his Overture, encouraging an open frame of mind. For the second suite, Du Yun creates a heartbreaking lament in The Veronica, referencing a Russian Orthodox prayer for the dead, Serbian chant, and central European gypsy fiddle music. Vijay Iyer’s Run responds to Bach’s third suite with infectious energy and kinesthetic rhythms that celebrate the natural resonance of the instrument as well as the composer’s jazz roots. Then, Roberto Sierra’s La memoria plays on our memory of Bach’s Suite IV, referencing motivic fragments while creating a kaleidoscopic musical perspective, underpinned by Caribbean bass lines and salsa rhythms. David Sanford’s tour de force, Es War, leads into the fifth suite, with a Mingus-inspired pizzicato intro, alluding to Bach’s epic fugue and quoting a Bach cantata. For the sixth and final suite, Luna Pearl Woolf is inspired by pre-Western Hawaiian chant, taking full advantage of the virtuosic properties of the 5-string cello piccolo and treating it operatically, from the low bass to the soprano stratosphere. Overtures to Bach spans more than time, linking us to far-flung corners of our musical world and offering an entrée into six distinct compositional voices. Then, as Philip Glass writes, “Just let Bach’s music begin. It’s there for the listening.”

PENTATONE – which has named Matt Haimovitz their Artist of the Season – has created an online enhanced booklet, with “In Session” videos of Haimovitz and each of the composers in the recording studio, where the new works were further developed and shaped. (The new videos – seven in total – will be available one every two weeks, starting August 1.) Also included as exclusive bonus material on iTunes is a three-movement reflection on Bach by Mohammed Fairouz called Gabriel.

The new album will be launched at Salon Christophori in Berlin on August 12 followed by select Overtures performed on tour in London, Oxford, and Bayreuth. Haimovitz’s “A Moveable Feast” – residencies that bring the Overtures and Suites to unusual locations before culminating in concert-hall performance – premiered last October at Miller Theater at Columbia University and featured in The New York Times, continue this season in cities in Arizona, Utah, Florida, New York, California, Kansas, Iowa, Connecticut, and Quebec.

The PENTATONE Oxingale Series, a new collaboration between the two labels, was launched in January 2015 with BEETHOVEN, Period., the complete Beethoven Sonatas and Variations with Christopher O’Riley. Gramophone said “Haimovitz and O’Riley play the living daylights out of these works” and included it among its list of Top Ten Beethoven Recordings. This was followed by the ORBIT, a new compilation of contemporary solo cello works, which The New York Times called “fascinating … heartwarming, scary, playful and groovy, this recording reveals worlds inside a single instrument.” PENTATONE has also released newly-remastered SACDs of Schubert recordings by Haimovitz, with Itamar Golan and the Miró String Quartet, and Haimovitz and O’Riley’s genre-blurring double-album Shuffle.Play.Listen. The 2015 release of J.S. Bach: The Cello Suites According to Anna Magdalena was critically-acclaimed. Gramophone said: “Those who want to be challenged without compromising tone or tuning, both of which are impeccable here, should look no further,” and ICI Musique concurred, “Matt Haimovitz has made us well aware that this music is alive, breathes, and refuses to be walled up in a stylistic protective shell. And that is the greatest achievement of this exceptional musician.”

MATT HAIMOVITZ is praised by The New York Times as a “ferociously talented cellist who brings his megawatt sound and uncommon expressive gifts to a vast variety of styles” and by The New Yorker as “remarkable virtuoso” who “never turns in a predictable performance.” He has been closely associated with J.S. Bach’s Cello Suites since the year 2000, when the former child prodigy jump-started the alt-classical revolution by taking his cello on the road across the U.S., playing the Suites in bars and coffeehouses, including New York’s now-defunct punk palace CBGB’s. Additional performance highlights this season include concerti with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Atlanta Symphony, and Tokyo’s New Japan Philharmonic. Haimovitz will also lead the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie at the Berlin Philharmonie, and perform a concerto by Isang Yun – marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Korean composer and political prisoner – with the Bruckner Orchestra with Dennis Russell Davies on tour in Austria.

La pianiste Louise Bessette reçoit un doctorat honorifique de la Western University

Posted by shiragilbert on

June 20, 2016

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LA PIANISTE DE RÉPUTATION INTERNATIONALE EST SALUÉE COMME CHEF DE FILE DANS L’INTERPRÉTATION DU RÉPERTOIRE DES 20e ET 21e SIÈCLES

La pianiste Louise Bessette a reçu ce matin un doctorat en musique honoris causa de la Western University de London (Ont.). L’artiste montréalaise est reconnue comme « musicienne mondialement réputée et figure de proue en matière d’interprétation du répertoire des 20^e et 21^e siècles, de même que pour son impact significatif dans le monde contemporain du piano classique ».

Louise Bessette est l’une des plus grandes interprètes de la musique de notre époque. Pour son répertoire diversifié et son jeu impeccable, elle a été saluée comme « spécialiste du 20^e siècle, d’une remarquable profondeur et d’une technique sans faille » (The Gazette), et applaudie pour son « jeu d’une réelle grandeur » ainsi que pour « ses stupéfiantes réserves de virtuosité calme et contrôlée » (The Music Times, Londres). Elle se produit fréquemment en Europe, en Asie, en Amérique du Nord et en Amérique centrale, et sa discographie compte plus de vingt enregistrements. Elle a créé plus de 40 œuvres, dont plusieurs ont été écrites expressément pour elle par certains des plus importants compositeurs québécois. En 2009, elle était nommée Ambassadrice du Centre de musique canadienne.

Particulièrement appréciée du public québécois, Louise Bessette vient de recevoir son huitième Prix Opus décerné par le Conseil québécois de la musique qui, l’an dernier, lui avait fait l’honneur de lui décerner son Prix Opus dans la catégorie Interprète de l’année.

À travers le monde, Louise Bessette est surtout admirée pour ses interprétations de la musique d’Olivier Messiaen. Le mois prochain, les 2 et 3 juillet, elle participera à deux récitals donnés en hommage au compositeur français et à ses héritiers (de France et du Québec), lors de l’inauguration de la Maison Messiaen à Pétichet, en France. Comme l’a déjà écrit le Journal de Genève : « En Louise Bessette, Messiaen a trouvé son interprète contemporaine la plus inspirée, sans doute pour plusieurs années encore. »

Au chapitre de ses projets, mentionnons la parution en septembre prochain, du Concertango grosso de François Dompierre qu’elle a enregistré avec l’orchestre de chambre Appassionata sous la direction de Daniel Myssyk (Atma Classique). À noter que les mêmes interprètes avaient créé l’œuvre en mars dernier à la Salle Bourgie, à Montréal.

Née à Montréal, Louise Bessette a commencé l’étude du piano à l’âge de cinq ans. Après ses études auprès de Georges Savaria et de Raoul Sosa au Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, puis à New York avec Eugene List, elle s’est rendue à Paris où Yvonne Loriod, Claude Helffer, Jay Gottlieb et Dominique Merlet ont compté parmi ses mentors. Ses débuts ont été marqués par des récompenses aussi prestigieuses que le Premier Prix du Concours Eckhardt-Gramatté (Canada, 1981) – concours dont elle a fait partie du jury cette année – , le Premier prix du Concours International de Musique Contemporaine de Saint-Germain-en-Laye (France, 1986), ainsi que le Premier Prix et le Prix spécial Catégorie piano au Concours international d’interprétation Gaudeamus (Rotterdam, 1989). Louise Bessette est Membre de l’Ordre du Canada et Officier de l’Ordre national du Québec, et est titulaire d’une classe de piano au Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal.

www.louisebessette.com

Two Schubert Masterpieces and Matt Haimovitz Favorites Beautifully Remastered for PENTATONE

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June 3, 2016

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Two of Schubert’s great masterpieces – as well as two of cellist Matt Haimovitz’s most personally significant recordings – are now remastered and rereleased in SACD surround sound on the PENTATONE Oxingale series – the fifth release since PENTATONE and Oxingale Records joined forces at the beginning of 2015. For this 2001 recording of Schubert’s Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano in A minor, D. 821, Haimovitz is joined by renowned pianist Itamar Golan. The Sonata is paired with Schubert’s final and most revered chamber work, the String Quintet in C Major, D956, in a 2003 recording by Haimovitz and the Miró Quartet. These recorded performances have been praised by The Strad as “deeply considered and eloquent” and by The Philadelphia Inquirer as “smart, fun, loving, and beautifully recorded.”

The Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano in A minor was written for a six stringed instrument similar to the viola da gamba, which was invented in 1823 but soon fell into oblivion. Haimovitz recalls how he once stumbled upon an arpeggione in a Parisian instrument shop and gave it a try: “The sound that emerged from the slender frame between my legs was a heaving, animal rasp akin to the sound of cat claws scraping against sandpaper! It is no wonder the instrument faded into obscurity.” Happily, Schubert’s virtuosic song cycle-without-words is heard today in the transcription for cello. “The composer spins a narrative at once autumnal and introspective, yet full of bohemian life,” says Haimovitz. Haimovitz and Golan have enjoyed a close and long collaboration – they were in fact born just a few blocks away from each other in Bat-Yam, Israel – a highlight of which was a tour throughout Europe with violinist Shlomo Mintz.

Finished only a few months before his untimely death in 1828, Schubert’s String Quintet in C major is set for the unusual combination of string quartet plus a second cello. Considered one of the greatest masterpieces in the chamber music repertoire, the work also has a special significance in Haimovitz’s career: he played the Quintet for his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of thirteen. In extraordinary circumstances, he was asked by his teacher, the legendary cellist Leonard Rose, to replace him at the last minute and perform the work with none other than Isaac Stern, Shlomo Mintz, Pinchas Zukerman, and Mstislav Rostropovich. Adding to the intensity of the occasion, “Slava” – one of Haimovitz’s great cello idols – decided that he wanted to switch to the second cello part the day before the concert, leaving the young cellist one all-nighter to study the first cello part. Twenty years later, Haimovitz joins an established quartet, the Miró, for this incredible music – a work they have also played together in both conventional and alternative venues.

Matt Haimovitz is praised by The New York Times as a “ferociously talented cellist who brings his megawatt sound and uncommon expressive gifts to a vast variety of styles” and by The New Yorker as “remarkable virtuoso” who “never turns in a predictable performance.” A highlight of this past season – which included performances in New York, Madrid, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Montreal – was the release of The Cello Suites According to Anna Magdalena, for the PENTATONE Oxingale series, Haimovitz’s profound new interpretation of the Bach Suites, inspired and informed by an authoritative manuscript by Anna Magdalena, Bach’s second wife. Gramophone, says: “Those who want to be challenged without compromising tone or tuning, both of which are impeccable here, should look no further,” and ICI Musique concurs, “Matt Haimovitz has made us well aware that this music is alive, breathes, and refuses to be walled up in a stylistic protective shell. And that is the greatest achievement of this exceptional musician.” The culmination of Haimovitz’s re-immersion in the Bach suites is Overtures to Bach: six newly- commissioned works to anticipate and reflect each of the suites, by Philip Glass, Du Yun, Vijay Iyer, Roberto Sierra, David Sanford, and Luna Pearl Woolf. Overtures to Bach, on the PENTATONE Oxingale series, will be released internationally this August.

Itamar Golan has established himself as a chamber musician in high demand, paired with the virtuoso Russian violinist Maxim Vengerov, as well as Barbara Hendricks, Shlomo Mintz, Mischa Maisky, Matt Haimovitz, Tabea Zimmermann, Ida Haendel, and Julian Rachlin, among others. He performs as a soloist with the Israel Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic under conductor Zubin Mehta. Golan is professor of chamber music at the Paris Conservatoire.

The Miró Quartet is consistently praised for their deeply musical interpretations, exciting performances, and thoughtful programming. Each season, the Quartet performs throughout the world on the most prestigious concert stages, garnering accolades from critics and audiences alike. Formed in 1995, the Miró Quartet took first prizes at several national and international competitions including the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Naumburg Chamber Music Competition. In 2005, it became the first ensemble ever to be awarded the Avery Fisher Career Grant. The Quartet has served as the quartet-in-residence at the University of Texas at Austin Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music since 2003. The Quartet’s two most recent recordings also feature music by Schubert: Schubert Interrupted and Transcendence.

THIS SUMMER: Matt Haimovitz will launch the album Overtures to Bach in a series of venues in Berlin in August. He will be in residence at the new Tippet Rise Art Center& Festival in Montana in July, where his performances will include the Bach Cello Suites paired with the new Overtures, an all-Russian recital program with pianist Christopher O’Riley, and the Schubert Quintet in C with the Dover String Quartet. He will also appear in the UK for a three-concert tour with the British trio VOICE in early August, in addition to performances in Edmonton, Alberta, Burlington, Vermont, and elsewhere. For a complete schedule please see:

WWW.MATTHAIMOVITZ.COM

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