Free Lunch Hour Concerts in Downtown Toronto - COC 2011/2012 Season

From a media release:

The Canadian Opera Company Kicks Off its Free Concert Series
Free Lunch Hour Concerts at the Glorious Four Seasons Centre
Toronto - 2011/2012 Season


Concert Listings by Series

TORONTO - The Canadian Opera Company kicks off the 2011/2012 season of it its wildly popular Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre on Sept. 20, 2011 at 12 p.m.  The series opens with annual audience favourite Meet the Young Artists, featuring the rising stars of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio in a program of their favourite operatic arias.  Inaugurated in 2006, the 10-month festival of concerts and dance events attracts 15,000 people annually to the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, showcasing hundreds of artists from Canada and around the world.

Concert Listings by Series


Highlights

• The Vocal Series features mainstage COC artists Erin Wall (Love from Afar, The Tales of Hoffmann), Julie Makerov (Tosca), Ekaterina Sadovnikova (Rigoletto), Krisztina Szabó (Love from Afar), Russell Braun (Iphigenia in Tauris), and Robert Pomakov (Rigoletto).
• For the first time ever, the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra is presented in a mini-festival of four concerts featuring its members in various combinations, curated by COC music director Johannes Debus.
• Kaija Saariaho, composer of Love from Afar, will host a concert featuring the artists of the Ensemble Studio in a program of her vocal works.
• Featured chamber ensembles include the New Orford String Quartet, the Zodiac Trio, ArrayMusic, ensembles from the Glenn Gould Studio, and Trio Arkel.
• The Piano Virtuoso Series features Canadian pianists Alexander Seredenko, Lucas Porter, Scott MacIsaac, and Christopher Mokrzewski, as well as international pianists Ryan MacEvoy McCullough (U.S.), Alejandro Vela (Mexico), Hiroko Kudo (Japan), and Mehdi Ghazi (Algeria).
• The Jazz Series features duos Robi Botos/Hilario Durán, Robi Botos/Bill McBirnie, Julie Michels/Kevin Barrett, Don Thompson/Guido Basso, Sophia Perlman/Adrean Farrugia, Lauren Margison/Christopher Mokrzewski, and Nancy Walker/Bruce Cassidy.  Ensembles include the Heather Bambrick Quartet, Humber Studio Jazz Ensemble, Cadence vocal quartet, and the Adi Braun Quartet.
• The Dance Series programs include the traditional and contemporary Chinese dance of Little Pear Garden, the International Flamenco Festival, breakdancing by Bboyizm, Ipsita Nova Dance Projects, and Ballet Jörgen.
• The World Music Series features Juno-nominated artist Pavlo, taiko ensemble Nagata Shachu, the southern Italian sounds of the Vesuvius Ensemble, the tango stylings of Ensemble Vivant with special guest bassist Dave Young, Eliana Cuevas and her trio, the Humber Mexican Jazz Project, folk master banjoist Jayme Stone, and The Yiddish Swingtet.

Images:
The Luis Mario Ochoa Quintet. Photo © Chris Hutcheson 2009
Alejandro Vela performs as part of the Piano Virtuoso series. Photo © Karen E. Reeves 2010
The City Dance Corps performs as part of the Dance Series. Photo © Mike Brassard 2010

Visit coc.ca for listings for the Free Concerts Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre./fourseasonscentre.ca

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