Chamber Players of Canada present concert of music of Healey Willan on April 23: Widely considered the “Dean of Canadian composers”
The Chamber Players of Canada are delighted to be presenting an entire concert dedicated to the music of Healey Willan, one of the very greatest composers in the history of music in Canada. The concert will take place at Dominion-Chalmers United Church on Saturday, April 23 at 8:00 p.m. The Chamber Players will record all of the music for the ATMA label in the three days following the concert. This will be the Chamber Players of Canada’s 10th CD recording.
By musicians who know the repertoire, James Healey Willan (1880 – 1968) is viewed internationally as one of the very greatest composers of choral music of the 20th century. In fact, during his lifetime, Willan had a vastly greater profile than he has today. To put his music in perspective, in 1953, a study was made of the repertoire performed by 37 leading choirs in the United States and Canada. Only one composer was performed more often than Willan – J.S. Bach.
For decades, Willan was known as the “Dean of Canadian Composers” and his music was widely known, respected and performed. His influence on music in Canada during his lifetime was without parallel. His commitment to the craft of composition has influenced and impacted every composer in Canada, whether or not they share his views on tonality.
“I’m absolutely delighted that we’re able to give Willan’s chamber music the attention it deserves. “In fact, his tremendous output contains some truly wonderful chamber music that deserves to be heard and performed every bit as much as his choral music. Willan’s chamber music is first-rate and most of it has never been recorded. Of the 27 recordings currently available of his music (mostly choral compilations), not one contains a single piece or even movement, of his chamber music. People are really going to love this concert.”
Seven of Canada’s best musicians will perform: violinists Jonathan Crow and Marcelle Mallette; violist Guylaine Lemaire; cellist Julian Armour; double bassist Murielle Bruneau; flautist Joanna G’froerer and pianist Andrew Tunis.
The Chamber Players of Canada is a group made up of some of the best musicians from Ottawa and across Canada that varies in size for concerts, recording, and touring. The Chamber Players have performed at a number of the most prestigious concert series and festivals in Canada and have made seven recordings on the ATMA, CBC and CMS Classics labels. They are heard regularly on CBC Radio and Radio-Canada. All of their recording have received tremendous critical acclaim and each has earned the full five stars on the CBC Radio show Sound Advice.
Their recent concert in Carmel California drew standing ovations and a rave review from Peninsula Reviews: “…the lovely, precise ensemble from the four musicians grabbed us by the throat and commanded our attention for almost 25 minutes. We heard elegant, stylish performances full of nicely shaped phrases, with playing so full of energy and variety of dynamics that at times the players sounded like a much larger ensemble.”
Tickets for the concertare $20 for adults, $10 for students and $40 for seating in a special reserved section.
Tickets are available at the door and can be purchased in advance at several area locations including CD Warehouse, Compact Music, the Leading Note, Books on Beechwoood, Lauzon Music, Wall Space Gallery and Collected Works. Subscriptions and multi-concert discounts for the 2010-2011 season are available in advance and will also be available at the concert. Tickets can now be purchased through the Chamber Players of Canada’s secure web site without a handling charge. Further information can be found on the Chamber Player’s web site: www.chamberplayers.ca
Janina Fialkowska joins the Chamber Players of Canada for two concerts celebrating Mozart, February 22 and 23
Janina Fialkowska, one of the top Canadian pianists performing on the international scene will join the Chamber Players of Canada for two concerts celebrating Mozart. The first will take place on February 22nd at 8:00 p.m. and February 23rd at 10:30 a.m. Both concerts take place at Dominion-Chalmers United Church.
The programs will feature two piano concertos in chamber music versions prepared by Mozart himself. This will be the second set of these concertos that Janina Fialkowka and the Chamber Players of Canada have performed together. They will record these concertos for the ATMA label in the days following the concerts. After the recording they will fly to California to perform these works for the prestigious Carmel Music Society. Other musicians performing in the concert include violinists Jonathan Crow and Manuela Milani, violist Guylaine Lemaire, cellist Julian Armour and double bassist Murielle Bruneau.
Their recording of the first two Mozart concertos received rave reviews internationally. John Terauds of the Toronto Star wrote, “In March, pianist Janina Fialkowska and her favourite chamber-music collaborators came to the Glenn Gould Studio to seduce us with two Mozart piano concertos that the composer had reduced to salon-size forces. This disc, recorded shortly afterward, captures the same magic of impeccable musicianship and transparent phrasing.”
Mozart Piano Concertos with Janina Fialkowska
Mozart Piano Concertos with Janina Fialkowska
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 8:00 p.m.
Dominion-Chalmers United Church
355 Cooper Street
Janina Fialkowska – piano / piano
Jonathan Crow – violin / violon
Manuela Milani – violin / violon
Guylaine Lemaire – viola / alto
Julian Armour – cello / violoncelle
Murielle Bruneau – double bass / contrebasse
Works of Mozart: Concerto in C major, K. 415; Concerto in E-flat major, K. 449; and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Adult: $20 | Student: $10 | Reserved Section: $40 | Special Fundraising Tickets: $200
Special Fundraising Tickets in support of Music and Beyond are available for this concert. Tickets are $200 and include Reserved Section seating, a post-concert dessert and coffee reception and a tax receipt for $140.
• Concert begins at 8:00 p.m.
• Dessert and coffee reception with the artists follows the concert
60 tickets are available which also include: a very special pre-concert reception at the superb b/Side Wine and Food (one block away from Dominion-Chalmers United Church at 323 Somerset St. West) including wine and hors d’œuvres in addition to the concert and the post-concert dessert and coffee reception. These tickets are also $200 and include a tax receipt for $120.
• Pre-concert reception at b/Side Wine and Food from 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
• Concert begins at 8:00 p.m.
• Dessert and coffee reception with the artists follows the concert
For tickets and more information please contact
Music and Beyond at: (613) 241-0777
Tokyo Quartet’s Martin Beaver to perform with Andrew Tunis – March 30
Ottawa, Tuesday, March 23, 2010 – Renowned Canadian violinist Martin Beaver will be making a rare Canadian appearance as a recitalist on March 30th at 10:30 a.m. as part of the Chamber Players of Canada’s new “Coffee Concert series. Mr. Beaver has garnered rave reviews internationally for his superb playing as first violinist of the Tokyo String Quartet. For this concert, he will be joined by one of Canada’s top pianists, Ottawa’s Andrew Tunis.
The concert will feature two masterpieces of the violin repertoire, Beethoven’s Sonata in G major, opus 30, no. 3 and Brahms’ Sonata in G major, opus 78. This concert will be recorded by CBC Radio Two for future broadcast.
Their appearance will be presented as part of the Chamber Players of Canada’s morning “Coffee-Concert” series. This is the first morning classical music concert series to take place in Ottawa in recent memory.
It will take place at Dominion-Chalmers United Church. Coffee and refreshments will be served before the concert, starting at 9:45 a.m..
Coffee is being provided by Bridgehead.
“I’m delighted to be presenting Martin Beaver and Andrew Tunis in concert together,” states the Chamber Players of Canada’s artistic director Julian Armour. Ottawa audiences have great memories of hearing them play together many times before Martin joined the Tokyo Quartet. This will be a wonderful reunion and we’re delighted to be bringing them back together. This is the repertoire that they play so wonderfully!”
Martin Beaver was named First Violin of the world-renowned Tokyo String Quartet in 2002 and has appeared to critical and public acclaim in most major cities in the world.
His concerto and recital appearances span four continents with orchestras such as the San Francisco Symphony, l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège and the National Arts Centre Orchestra under the batons of Pinchas Zukerman, Raymond Leppard and Charles Dutoit among others. His chamber music performances include collaborations with such eminent artists as Leon Fleisher, Lynn Harrell, Sabine Meyer and the late Alicia de Larrocha. He is presently on the faculty of New York University and is Artist-in-Residence at the Yale School of Music. Mr. Beaver plays the 1727 “Paganini” Stradivarius on generous loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.
A favourite of Ottawa audiences, Andrew Tunis has been living and performing in the Ottawa area for over 20 years. He has given concerts in North America, Europe, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Asia. Among the many musicians with whom he has collaborated are violinists Pinchas Zukerman, Jonathan Crow, Andrew Wan and Martin Beaver, cellists Desmond Hoebig, Antonio Lysy, Julian Armour and Steven Isserlis, as well as the Philharmonia Quartet of Berlin and St. Lawrence String Quartet. He has appeared as guest soloist with many Canadian orchestras, including the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic and Ottawa and Edmonton symphony orchestras. He won first prize in several national and international competitions and, with cellist Desmond Hoebig, first prize at the 1984 Munich International Competition. He is currently Professor of Piano at the University of Ottawa.
Morning concert series have been presented by numerous organizations in major cities around the world with tremendous success. For many, morning is an ideal time to hear music and a great way to fit a musical outing into the other activities in their day. This series is designed to appeal to people who are able to attend concerts during the day, including people with flexible or unusual work schedules, university students, parents with children in school and daycare, and retired people.
The remaining concert in the Chamber Players of Canada Coffee Concert series will take place on April 13th when clarinetist Kimball Sykes and Montreal Symphony concertmaster Andrew Wan join the Chamber Players in a program of music for clarinet and strings.
The Chamber Players of Canada is a group made up of some of the best musicians from Ottawa and across Canada that varies in size for concerts, recording, and touring. The Chamber Players have performed at a number of the most prestigious concert series and festivals in Canada and have recorded seven recordings on the ATMA, CBC and CMS Classics labels. They are heard regularly on CBC Radio and Radio-Canada. All of their seven recording have received tremendous critical acclaim and each has earned the full five stars on the CBC Radio show Sound Advice. This is the first time they are presenting their own regular-season concert series.
Tickets for Martin Beaver and Andrew Tunis are $20 for adults, $10 for students and $40 for seating in a special reserved section. All ticket holders are invited for coffee and refreshments before the concert, starting at 9:45. Tickets are available at the door and can be purchased in advance at several area locations including CD Warehouse, Compact Music, the Leading Note, Books on Beechwoood, Lauzon Music and Collected Works. Subscriptions and multi-concert discounts for the 2009-2010 season will be available at the concert.
Further information can be found on the Chamber Player’s web site, www.chamberplayers.ca.
Tallis Scholars make Ottawa debut March 28
Ottawa (March 22, 2010)
The Tallis Scholars, with Peter Phillips, conductor, make their much-anticipated Ottawa debut with a concert of Renaissance choral works at Dominion-Chalmers United Church in Ottawa on Sunday, March 28 at 7:30 pm.
Hailed by The New York Times as “The rock stars of Renaissance vocal music,” the Tallis Scholars were founded in 1973 by their director, Peter Phillips. Through their award-winning recordings and over 1,600 concerts, Phillips and the Tallis Scholars have done more than any other group to establish the sacred vocal music of the Renaissance as one of the great repertoires of Western classical music.
The concert at Dominion-Chalmers will include works by Jean Mouton, Nicolas Gombert, Loyset Compère and Josquin des Prés. Conductor Peter Phillips describes the program: “The Tallis Scholars are about to embark on a minor crusade to promote the music of Jean Mouton. We have chosen here a mass based on an amorous chanson by Loyset Compère, like Mouton a Franco-Flemish composer, which makes special use of some very low bass notes. The three Agnus Deis in particular are quite breathtaking in their dark sonorities. The second half of the programme complements the first: all Franco-Flemish, the two Ave Marias are particularly lovely; the Gombert Magnificat is a work we championed years ago in concert and on disc; and Josquin’s motet Praeter rerum seriem is one of the masterpieces of the period, again scored with dark bass resonances.”
Recordings by the Tallis Scholars have attracted many awards throughout the world. In 1987 their recording of works by Josquin des Prés received GRAMOPHONE magazine’s Record of the Year award-still the only recording of early music ever to win this coveted award. In 2005 their disc of music by John Browne was nominated for a Grammy. Much of the Tallis Scholars’ reputation has come from their association with Gimell Records, established by Peter Phillips and Steve Smith in 1981 solely to record the Scholars.
Ticket Information
Tickets range from $30-47. Student pricing is also available. For more information, please contact the OCMS office at 613-234-6306 or www.chamberfest.com.
Mark your calendars! Chamberfest 2010 will take place from July 24 to August 7.
Karen St. Aubin
Communications, Marketing & Events Coordinator
Ottawa Chamber Music Society
201-4 Florence Street
Ottawa, ON K2P 0W7
613-234-8008 x 244
613-299-0929 (cell)
kstaubin@chamberfest.com
Join us for the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, the best chamber music experience in North America!
Chamberfest 2010 July 24 – August 7.
Rendez-vous au Festival international de musique de chambre d’Ottawa. En musique de chambre, c’est ce qu’il y a de mieux en Amérique du Nord !
Chamberfest 2010 du 24 juillet au 7 août.
Jazz from around the world to celebrate our 30th anniversary season!
The Ottawa Jazz Festival is pleased to announce this year’s fall/winter Concert Series, featuring six performances by internationally acclaimed, award-winning artists from around the world. In addition to this Concert Series, the Festival will be holding a live wine auction and benefit concert fundraiser on Tuesday, December 8, featuring Juno award winning jazz vocalist Sophie Milman as the special guest performer.
Known as a grand master of improvisation, French vocalist and cornet player Médéric Collignon will be performing at the National Arts Centre Fourth Stage on Tuesday, December 1 at 7pm. Encompassing styles as diverse as cool jazz, rhythm and blues, free jazz, contemporary electro-acoustic, big band and orchestral, Collignon’s original music fascinates and thrills. Presented in partnership with the (French Embassy/CulturesFrance.)
On Tuesday, December 8, the Jazz Festival hosts its 12th Annual Benefit Concert and Auction at Library and Archives Canada. Exciting dinner packages, exotic destinations, wine selection for all tastes and budgets – and just in time for Christmas! CBC Radio One’s Alan Neal will be the evening’s host and auctioneer, while Konrad Ejbich, regular Ontario Today wine commentator on CBC Radio One, will be the wine guest auctioneer. A performance by Juno winner Sophie Milman is the perfect finale to this evening!
Considered the premier banjo player in the world, Béla Fleck will perform his Africa Project: featuring Bassekou Kouyate, Ngoni Ba and Anania Ngoliga with John Kitime on Monday, March 1, 8pm at Dominion-Chalmers United Church. In on-location collaborations with musicians from Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal, Mali, South Africa and Madagascar, Fleck explores the African origins of the banjo, the prototype of which was brought to American shores by African slaves. Ottawa audiences will remember Fleck from his two previous sold-out appearances at the Ottawa Jazz Festival.
Dutch trumpet player Eric Vloeimans is considered one of the best performers in Europe. As a composer he does not feel restricted to one particular style, and has managed to create an evocative, harmonic language of his own. The Festival is very pleased to be presenting this show in co-operation with the Royal Netherlands Embassy on Monday, March 8, 7pm at the National Arts Centre, Fourth Stage.
The 30th TD Canada Trust Ottawa International Jazz Festival will take place from June 24 to July 4. Bigger than ever, the 30th anniversary celebrations will showcase hundreds of artists – an event not to be missed!
Tickets for the Cory Weeds Quintet, Rory Magill and Rake-star, Quartetski, Médéric Collignon and Eric Vloeimans concerts are available at: National Arts Centre box office – 53 Elgin St., Ottawa; Tel. (613) 947-7000; Ottawa Jazz Festival office – 602-294 Albert St., (613) 241-2633; and Ticketmaster (613) 755-1111 or www.ticketmaster.ca
Tickets for the Benefit Concert and Auction and the Béla Fleck Africa Project are available at the Ottawa Jazz Festival office and on the Festival website; both Compact Music and all 3 CD Warehouse locations; or Ticketmaster (613) 755-1111 or www.ticketmaster.ca
For the Fallen – Remembering our heritage with music for choir and brass
The Ottawa Chamber Music Society, in partnership with the Cantata Singers of Ottawa, present a poignant concert, For the Fallen, on Saturday, November 14, 8 PM at Dominion-Chalmers United Church.
The Cantata Singers of Ottawa and Capital BrassWorks join forces in a unique and powerful performance in honour of Canada’s military heroes, past and present, and in commemoration of Remembrance Day. This contemplative program expresses the deep-felt emotions triggered by moving moments in history.
The Cantata Singers of Ottawa is one of the foremost choirs in Eastern Ontario. Founded in 1964, the choir is now being directed by internationally renowned choral conductor Michael Zaugg who is taking the choir in new and exciting directions. The choir supports local and national composers by commissioning and performing their works. For this concert, Christopher Hossfeld will be the guest conductor.
Since its inaugural concert in June 1999, Capital BrassWorks has attracted enthusiastic audiences and seen its popularity grow by leaps and bounds. The group includes some of Canada’s finest brass players and percussionists drawn primarily from the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Guest artists from the Toronto and Montreal symphony orchestras have also taken part in concerts and recordings.
This commemorative concert will feature many moving and reflective pieces, including Rudolf Mauersberger’s motet of mourning, Wie liegt die Stadt so wüst, written after a massive air raid on February 13, 1945 destroyed the inner city of Dresden and killed some 25,000 people. The Kreuzkirche (Church of the Cross) remained standing, but its interior was gutted and the choir school destroyed. The motet was given its first performance in the gutted church in the same year. Also on the programme will be London Miniatures by Gordon Langford, O Nata Lux by Canadian composer Rob Teehan, an arrangement by Capital BrassWorks’ Angus Armstrong called Tommy’s Tunes inspired by Tommy Dorsey and the big bands, Hymn to the Fallen by John WiIliams from the movie Saving Private Ryan, and a WORLD PREMIERE performance of Shell Shocked by Michal Novotny, and others.
“Helping other organizations in the community achieve their goals while adding quality and programming diversity to our own concert offerings is a winning formula. Collaborating with the Cantata Singers and Capital BrassWorks gives us the opportunity to commemorate Remembrance Day on a grand scale,” says Artistic Director Roman Borys.
Ticket Information
Full 2009-2010 Concert Series details are available on the OCMS’ website at www.chamberfest.com.
Single tickets range from $30 – 47. Discounted student pricing is also available.
Subscription benefits include: access to the best seats in the house, a 40% savings off single tickets, and the ability to exchange tickets for other concerts during the season. For more information, please contact the OCMS office at
613-234-6306.
The next two concerts in the series will feature the internationally renowned Württemberg Chamber Orchestra of Heilbronn performing on November 26 and with the Gryphon Trio on November 27.
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