Concerts this week!

It’s been a busy week of attending concerts! There are so many wonderful concerts happening all over Toronto!

The first performance I attended was the COC dress rehearsal of Iphigenia in Tarus by Gluck. The staging is absolutely stunning and incredibly effective, the music is beautifully sung, performed and played, and the Four Season's Centre for Performing Arts is a true gem of a hall. Run, don't walk, to get your tickets.

http://www.coc.ca/

Next up was the Classical Revolution at Dave’s bar on St. Clair West. The Classical Revolution is an amazing phenomenon that started in San Francisco and has spread like wildfire throughout the world. The basic concept is a chamber music reading party in a bar that invites any musician interested in playing to participate and anybody interested in listening to enjoy live on the spot chamber music making. Musicians bring their instruments and chamber music scores and read through music with whoever wants to play, often throwing together musicians that have never even met, in a relaxed setting that creates a completely different bar experience than you would normally expect! I ended up playing a movement from the Dvorak piano quintet and a couple of movements from one of the Mozart string quintets with some musicians I had never met. It was a blast! The bar was packed with musicians and music lovers - what could be better on a Tuesday night! Here is a link to the Classical Revolution's Facebook group page. Join the group to be find out when more about upcoming events!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/123649201008137/

Last night I went to hear the first Tafelmusik concert of the season, “Music Fit for a King” And music fit for a King it was! It was a wonderful way to herald in a new season of music with a wonderful selection of music written for courts all over Europe, including Sweden and Russia (not exactly the countries you associate with Baroque music!). It was a wonderful and diverse concert. It may come as no surprise to some of you, but I am a HUGE fan of Tafelmusik! They are the reason I moved to Toronto - after attending the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute many moons ago, I fell in love with Baroque cello and shortly after moved to Toronto to study with Tafelmusik principal cellist, Christina Mahler, who is an amazing cellist, teacher and mentor! Needless to say my life and music career has changed course completely because of this and I couldn’t be happier – it has led me, among many other exciting opportunities, to this new position as Artistic Director of the Academy Concert Series!

http://www.tafelmusik.org/