Ottawa Chamber Music Festival: 10 festival highlights
From Mozart to throat singing
By Steven Mazey, The Ottawa Citizen
Roman Borys performs Constantinople July 29-30 with the Gryphon Trio.
Photograph by: Julie Oliver, The Ottawa Citizen, The Ottawa Citizen
Stewart Goodyear’s performance of the complete Beethoven sonatas is only one of the notable events at this year’s Ottawa Chamber Music Festival.
In addition to baroque and classical repertoire, the festival’s more than 90 events will present new pieces by Canadian and international composers and music that will include tango, jazz, pop, bluegrass and the Ottawa premiere Aug. 3 of Canadian composer Alexina Louie’s Take the Dog Sled, a piece involving Inuit throat singers.
At one of the late-night concerts, where patrons can order drinks, there will be an appearance by turntable artist DJ P-Love.
“This is a big festival, where you can hear early music, new music, standard repertoire and also get some great insight from composers talking about their music, ” festival director Roman Borys, cellist with the Toronto-based Gryphon Trio, said when he announced the lineup.
“The various programs or mini-series that we have within the festival have been going deeper and deeper. I feel it’s a really muscular range.”
Read more: 10 festival highlights
Ottawa Chamber Music Festival Schedule
The Ottawa Citizen
Photo courtesy of Afiara String quartet
SATURDAY, JULY 24
1 p.m.: Gryphon Trio, mezzo Patricia O’Callaghan. Songs and tangos from the Americas. Grounds of Rideau Hall.
3 p.m.: Rising Stars. Saint Brigid’s Centre for the Arts. Young Ottawa-area musicians.
7 p.m.: Mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade in recital with pianist Jake Heggie. Music by Heggie, Copland, Poulenc, Mahler, Sondheim, others. Dominion-Chalmers Church.
10:30 p.m.: Broken Hearts and Mad Men. Gryphon Trio; mezzo Patricia O’Callaghan. Saint Brigid’s Centre for the Arts, Kildare Room.
SUNDAY, JULY 25
11 a.m.: Improvisations and Interpretations with pianist Adam Gyorgy. Beechwood National Memorial Centre, Sacred Space.
1 p.m.: Afiara String Quartet. Grounds of Rideau Hall.
3 p.m.: Violinist Marc Djokic, cellist Denise Djokic. Music of Kodály, Martinu, others. St. Andrew’s Church.
3 p.m.: Tf3, Grounds of Rideau Hall. Free. Classical, country, gypsy and jazz.
7 p.m.: Pianist Alexander Tselyakov. Chopin recital, including complete Etudes. Dominion-Chalmers Church.
8 p.m.: Claudel-Canimex Quartet. Music of Ravel, Dohnányi, Mozetich. Saint Brigid’s Centre for the Arts.
10:30 p.m.: Late Night at Saint Brigid’s: Tf3. Saint Brigid’s Centre for the Arts.
Read more: Ottawa Chamber Music Festival Schedule
Kanata pianist comes to Ottawa on Young Artist Tour: Willy Weng performs in solo recital
Jennifer Burden, YourKanata.com
Kanata pianist Willy Weng will be performing a recital in Ottawa as part of the Ontario Young Artist Tour at the Dominion-Chalmers United Church in downtown Ottawa on Oct. 25.
Weng won the provincial Young Artist competition in July 2009, which is put on by the Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association, and was rewarded with the chance to perform in a tour across Ontario.
The 18-year-old has already visited Toronto and Sarnia, and after the Ottawa leg of the tour, he will perform in London and Windsor as well.
More on YourKanata.com: Willy Weng performs in solo recital
Ottawa Chamber Music Festival hits high notes
William Littler, Toronto Star
The world’s biggest chamber music festival may well reside on the banks of the Ottawa River.
Yes, as modest as our nation’s capitol may be in its claims to global distinction, the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival probably has only one major rival for top status in its highly specialized business, and that is the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in faraway Finland.
Last year Ottawa crowded nearly 130 events into 16 days, and although this year’s program is more concentrated – 93 events between last Saturday and next – executive director Glenn Hodgins doesn’t shy away from characterizing the experience as a binge.
After years in Toronto working with Tafelmusik and the Ontario Arts Council, Hodgins arrived in Ottawa a couple of seasons ago to help fill the shoes of founding director Julian Armour, a cellist with a vision of filling Ottawa’s downtown churches with music.
It proved a cleverly economical way of securing a number of atmospheric, low-cost venues in a city outfitted with a generous supply of architecturally interesting places of worship within walking distance of each other.
The walking has come to be an integral part of the festival, since most patrons buy passes admitting them to any or all events, and if the line in front of one church looks dauntingly long, a pass holder can simply stroll over to one of its neighbours.
Full story on TheStar.com: Ottawa Chamber Music Festival hits high notes
Soloists bring magic to Stephan celebration
Richard Todd, The Ottawa Citizen
Destiny Denied was the title of the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival’s noon concert at the Church of St. John the Evangelist on Thursday. It was a celebration of the music of Rudi Stephan, a composer who committed suicide in the First World War by exposing himself to enemy fire. The music he had published has survived, but all of his manuscripts were lost when his family home was bombed during the next war.The program was conceived and assembled by pianist Hinrich Alpers, who is something of a Stephan specialist. It began with Groteske for Violin and Piano, possibly the least interesting of the five works on offer, but still worth hearing. Violinist Stephen Sitarski and Alpers brought it across nicely.
Read the rest on the Ottawa Citizen website: Soloists bring magic to Stephan celebration
Big voice headed to Big Apple: Stittsville tenor off to Juilliard after winning partial scholarship
Steven Mazey, The Ottawa Citizen
You’d think that auditioning to study at one of the world’s best-known music schools would be a little intimidating. Not for Stittsville tenor Nathan Haller.
The 18-year-old doesn’t get nervous about singing, and he says he felt pretty confident when he performed in front of bigwigs at the Juilliard School in New York City last March.
Haller, who has what his teacher Judith Vachon describes as “a kick-ass voice,” with beautiful tone, sang arias by Mozart and Donizetti and the poignant British song Is My Team Ploughing. He says the feedback at Juilliard was encouraging.
Still, he was shocked when an e-mail arrived in April congratulating him on his acceptance.
Read full story on the Ottawa Citizen website: Stittsville tenor off to Juilliard after winning partial scholarship
Note: Nathan Haller performs at Chamberfest on Saturday, 3 p.m., Southminster United Church, 15 Aylmer Ave.
Fest milestone for city woman: Musician’s ‘made it’ by coming back, playing Chamberfest
MJ DESCHAMPS | METRO OTTAWA
In the summer of 1995, a 15-year-old trombonist sat quietly in the audience at the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, taking in her first-ever live concert experience.
As a volunteer at the festival, Catherine Motuz got to meet many of the festival’s stars – professional musicians like Steven Sitarski, Julie Nesrallah and Andrew Dawes, who inspired her to start thinking seriously about playing her instrument beyond high school music class.
Fourteen years later, Motuz is gearing up to take the stage at the very festival that made her want to pursue music as a career in the first place.
“That first festival I volunteered at showed me that it wasn’t just child prodigies that could become professional musicians,” she said.
Full story on Ottawa Metro Online: Musician’s ‘made it’ by coming back, playing Chamberfest
Ottawa’s annual Chamberfest has shrunk in size, but expanded in scope
COLIN EATOCK, Globe and Mail
Time was when the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival – or “Chamberfest” – boasted it was the largest such event in the world. It grew every year after its founding in 1994, peaking last year with 127 concerts, densely packed into a two-week period.
But this summer, the festival, which opened on Saturday night, is smaller by 34 performances. In part this is a response to tough economic times, but it’s also because of a shift in philosophy.
“The numbers don’t matter,” insists Glenn Hodgins, who is in his second year as the festival’s executive director. “We’re trying to get away from the ‘biggest’ as a benchmark. Let’s be the best.”
Full review on the Globe and Mail website: Ottawa’s annual Chamberfest
Duo together at last in stunning show
Pianist Jon Kimura Parker and violinist James Ehnes perform in one of finest concerts of the yearJohn Terauds, The Star
Serious music usually takes a summertime break in Toronto. But that didn’t stop an upstart downtown festival from giving us one of the finest concerts of the year Tuesday night.
It took 15 years for two Canadian stars – pianist Jon Kimura Parker and violinist James Ehnes – to co-ordinate their performing schedules. Given the spectacular results at the Carlu (the once-legendary Eaton Auditorium), one can only hope that this was the beginning of a long and frequent collaboration.
The duo opened the fourth annual Toronto Summer Music Academy & Festival, which runs to Aug. 13.
Parker and Ehnes repeat their stunning program at the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival on Saturday (details at chamberfest.com).
Full article on thestar.com website:
Ottawa Chamber Music Festival Schedule
When and where: Saturday to Aug. 8, at several downtown churches and some outdoor venues.
Festival passes: $175 general; $130 Students.
Three-day passes: (For any three days of the festival) $89 general; $70 students
Family passes: (Two adults with two children aged 12 and under) $310 for full festival; $165 for three days.
Passes grant entry to all concerts except the opening and closing “Premium” concerts, which are fund-raising performances for the Ottawa Chamber Music Society. The opening concert Saturday features pianist Jon Kimura Parker with violinist James Ehnes. The closing concert includes soprano Donna Brown, the St. Lawrence Quartet, the Ying Quartet and eight cellists. For those concerts, passholders need an additional ticket ($30 general; $15 for students).
Young People’s Concerts: Children 12 and under accompanied by an adult are admitted free to the three young people’s concerts.
Single tickets: If you do not have a festival pass, single tickets to most concerts are $25 general; $15 for students. Single tickets to the opening and closing concerts are $40 and $20. Tickets to 10:30 p.m. concerts are $20 and $10.
Where to get passes, tickets and information: Passes and tickets will be sold at the venues and can be purchased through http://www.chamberfest.com or 613-234-6306, where more detailed festival information is also available.
Full Story on the Ottawa Citizen website: Ottawa Chamber Music Festival Schedule
