Royal Conservatory of Toronto Concerts for April 2012

From a media release:

APRIL CONCERTS AT THE ROYAL CONSERVATORY
KABARET AT KOERNER! AND A YEAR OF GREAT SAX CONCERTS WRAP UP
TWO MASTER VIOLINISTS – GIL SHAHAM AND ITZHAK PERLMAN
MAKE THEIR KOERNER HALL DEBUTS
VOCAL DELIGHTS FROM ANONYMOUS 4 AND DAWN UPSHAW

TORONTO -
April sees the end of two specially curated series of concerts for the 2011-12 season by Mervon Mehta, Executive Director, Performing Arts. German chanteuse and actress Ute Lemper, with the Vogler Quartet and pianis Stefan Malzew, brings a program titled Berlin Nights/Paris Days: The Art of Chanson to Toronto on April 4 as part of the Kabaret at Koerner! concert series. Crossing national and stylistic boundaries, Lemper brings together Weimar chansons and the classical works they influenced. From Weill to Piazzolla, from Schulhoff to Piaf, this is an extraordinary portrait of the cultural melting pot of 1920s Europe and beyond. To close out the series, Toronto cabaret singer and Royal Conservatory faculty member Adi Braun, accompanied by her trio (Jordan Klapmann on piano, George Koller on bass, and Daniel Barnes on drums), presents a concert titled Noir at the Conservatory Theatre on April 15. This will be a delicious and dangerous mix of music from the film noir era — a time where Marlene Dietrich wraps you in the arms of The Blue Angel, Doris Day sings of Ruth Etting’s woes in Love Me or Leave Me, and you taste the bittersweet reality of life in Blues in the Night. A Year of Great Sax concert series comes to an end with the Joshua Redman/Brad Mehldau Duo on April 14. Saxophonist Joshua Redman is one of today's most acclaimed and charismatic jazz artists and pianist Brad Mehldau returns to Koerner Hall after his concert last year with Swedish soprano Anne Sofie von Otter.

Two master violinists make their Koerner Hall debuts in April: Gil Shaham on April 21 and Itzhak Perlman on April 29. Described as “[a] virtuoso and a player of deeply intense sincerity” by The New York Times, Shaham performs Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita No. 3 for Solo Violin in E Major, BWV 1006, Sonata No. 3 for Solo Violin in C Major, BWV 1005, and Partita No. 2 for Solo Violin in D Minor, BWV 1004. As part of his week-long Toronto residency, reigning virtuoso of the violin Itzhak Perlman brings some of the most accomplished musicians from The Perlman Music Program in a concert that includes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Viola Quintet in G Minor, K. 516, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Prelude and Scherzo for String Octet, Op. 11, and Felix Mendelssohn’s String Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20.

Classical concerts in Koerner Hall include a performance by Anonymous 4 on April 11. Their special program, titled Anthology 25, celebrates the group’s 25th anniversary and comprises works from their most popular, chart-topping harmonia mundi CD, and a new work (the wood and the vine) by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang. The last Royal Conservatory Orchestra concert of the 2011-12 season, conducted by Uri Mayer, features Edgard Varèse’s Intégrales, Charles Gounod’s Petite Symphonie in B-flat Major for 9 Wind Instruments, Richard Strauss’s Serenade for Winds in E-flat Major, Op. 7 (for 13 wind instruments), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622, and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, Op. 96, on April 13. Down Under comes north as Australian Chamber Orchestra, with American soprano Dawn Upshaw, comes through Toronto on April 22. Upshaw has been awarded the MacArthur Fellowship and is the winner of four Grammy Awards. She performs the Canadian premiere of Maria Schneider’s Winter Morning Walks, while the Orchestra completes the evening’s program with Anton Webern’s Fives Pieces for Strings, Op. 5, interspersed with George Crumb’s Black Angels, and Arnold Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht.



Concerts in Mazzoleni Concert Hall, located in Historic Ihnatowycz Hall, close out the Mazzoleni Masters concert series with violinist Erika Raum and pianist Dianne Werner playing Ludwig van Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 96 “The Cockcrow,” Debussy's Sonata for Violin and Piano, and solo works by Paul Ben-Haim on April 1; Musicians from Marlboro, the touring ensemble from the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival, performs Josef Haydn’s Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Hob. XV:29, Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 13, and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57 on April 16 (this concert is made possible through the generosity of Dr. Günes N. Ege-Akter).

The last of the Discovery Series concerts includes The Glenn Gould School Chamber Music Competition Finals on April 3. This free event, presented in honour of R.S. Williams & Sons Co., sees The Glenn Gould School students compete for over $9,000 in prizes and the chance to perform a Prelude Recital in Koerner Hall. The Glenn Gould School’s New Music Ensemble, conducted by award-winning composer Brian Current, presents a program that includes two world premieres (a new piece yet to be named by So Jeong Ahn’s and Adam Sherkin’s Whirlwave), Kaija Saariaho’s Graal théâtre, Jo Kondo’s Standing, and Kaija Saariaho’s Il pleut on April 19. In a free event, the Academy Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Yunior Lopez, plays Ástor Piazzolla’s Four for Tango, Béla Bartók’s Divertimento for String Orchestra, BB 118, Sz.113, and movements from several Mozart concertos, featuring the young winners of the Academy’s Annual Concerto Competition.

Master Classes, Prelude, and Postlude Concerts

Renowned pianist Leon Fleisher will be giving master classes at The Conservatory on April 4 and 5, from 10am to noon and then again from 2pm until 4pm, on both dates. The Royal Conservatory Orchestra concert on April 13 will be preceded by a Prelude Concert starting at 6:45pm and will feature the talented young students of The Glenn Gould School. Two Koerner Hall mainstage performances are followed by Postlude Concerts in the Leslie and Anna Dan Galleria, Lower Level: the Alex Fournier Trio follows Joshua Redman/Brad Mehldau Duo on April 14 and students from The Glenn Gould School follow Gil Shaham on April 21.

Image of Itzhak Perlman by zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Gazagoal

April Performances at The Royal Conservatory
Erika Raum, violin, and Dianne Werner, piano (Mazzoleni Masters): Sunday, April 1, 2012 at 2pm (MCH); $31.50
The GGS Chamber Music Competition Finals (Discovery): Tuesday, April 3, 2012 at 7:00pm (MCH)*
Ute Lemper and the Vogler Quartet (Kabaret at Koerner!): Wednesday, April 4, 2012 at 8pm (KH); starting at $39
Anonymous 4 (Vocal): Wednesday, April 11, 2012 at 8pm (KH); starting at $33.50
Royal Conservatory Orchestra with Uri Mayer (Orchestra): Friday, April 13, 2012 at 8pm (KH); starting at $22
Joshua Redman/Brad Mehldau Duo (A Year of Great Sax): Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 8pm (KH); starting at $45
Adi Braun & Trio present Noir (Kabaret at Koerner!): Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 7:30pm (CT); $31.50
Musicians from Marlboro (Mazzoleni Masters): Monday, April 16, 2012 at 7:30pm (MCH); $31.50
The Glenn Gould School’s New Music Ensemble (Discovery): Thursday, April 19, 2012 at 7:30pm (MCH); $14.50
Gil Shaham plays Bach (Strings): Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 8pm (KH); starting at $45
Australian Chamber Orchestra with Dawn Upshaw (Chamber Music): Sun., April 22, 2012 at 3pm (KH); starting at $45
Academy Chamber Orchestra (Discovery): Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 7:30pm (MCH) *
Itzhak Perlman with The Perlman Music Program (Chamber Music): Sun., April 29, 2012 at 3pm (KH); starting at $61.50
* Free event; (KH) – Koerner Hall; (MCH) – Mazzoleni Concert Hall in historic Ihnatowycz Hall; (CT) – Conservatory Theatre
Tickets are available online at www.rcmusic.ca, by calling 416.408.0208, or in person at the Weston Family Box Office

All concerts take place at The Royal Conservatory
TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, 273 Bloor Street West, Toronto

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