Ken Stephen, Large Stage Live! This week's virtual Festival of Carols concert from the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir triumphantly overcame all obstacles to continue a much-loved Toronto tradition in a year of challenges.
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Messiah/Complex joyfully proves beauty of a vast ‘Canadian’ experience
Leah Borts Kuperman, Opera Canada Magazine. I feel I must preface this review with the confession that I have never–not ever–seen a holiday-season Messiah. I am grateful that Messiah/Complex, a filmed collaboration between the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO), Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and Against the Grain (AtG) Theatre, seen Dec. 13th, was my first.
Messiah has long been a Christmas tradition for some, but as a Jewish-Canadian oft-excluded from mainstream holiday cheer, it was lovely to see a joyful adaptation by co-directors Joel Ivany and Reneltta Arluk that deftly crosses denominations. Their Messiah/Complex is an hour-and-18-minute-long film celebrating different facets of the Canadian experience with 13 soloists and four choirs representing every Province and Territory to the gorgeous sounds of the TSO.
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Toronto Mendelssohn Choir names winner of 2020 Choral Composition Competition
The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir’s Choral Composition Competition is in its sixth year. Each year, the Choir receives entries from emerging composers from across Canada. For 2020, the competition was for an a capella work for the Christmas season. The winner is Alastair Boyd from Toronto, Ontario for his piece A Hymn on the Nativity.
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The Challenge of Remembrance
Ken Stephen, Large Stage Live!
The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir has stirred the pot to thought-provoking effect in a remarkable Remembrance Day online concert entitled Notinikew (Going to War) – a Program of Remembrance.
This programme, guest-curated by Winnipeg-based indigenous composer Andrew Balfour, swept away Remembrance Day's more conventional expressions of heroism and sacrifice, and forced the audience to confront difficult truths that cut uncomfortably close to home.
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Toronto Mendelssohn Choir Honours Indigenous Veterans In A Remembrance Day Streamed Program
BWW News Desk.
Toronto Mendelssohn Choir honours and remembers Canada's Indigenous Veterans in a Remembrance Day streamed multi-disciplinary program.
The TMC, under conductor Simon Rivard, is joined by composer and guest curator Andrew Balfour, and Elder Dr. Duke Redbird for a program that brings together choral music, poetry and dance. The centre piece of the program is Andrew Balfour's Notinikew. Movements of the work will be sung by Andrew's Winnipeg-based Camerata Nova and by the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.
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Toronto Mendelssohn Choir honours and remembers Canada’s Indigenous Veterans in a Remembrance Day concert
The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir’s next online concert, to stream on Remembrance Day, will reflect on and honour the experience of Indigenous Veterans. The TMC, under conductor Simon Rivard, is joined by composer and guest curator Andrew Balfour, and Elder Dr. Duke Redbird for a program that brings together choral music, poetry and dance. The centre piece of the program is Andrew Balfour’s Notinikew. Movements of the work will be sung by Andrew’s Winnipeg-based Camerata Nova and by the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.
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Toronto Mendelssohn Choir sings glorious songs of Thanksgiving
Ken Stephen, Large Stage Live. On Saturday night, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir premiered what is undoubtedly the most intricate virtual concert I've yet seen. Over a 50-minute span, the Choir presented music ranging from Bach to the present day, and across a geographic span that extended from Canada to Liverpool, and from Leipzig to the south of India. Even more striking, this performance incorporated both visual art creation and dance alongside music -- and dance in a style that cannot have been familiar to many in the online audience.
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Kannamma Program Notes
Check out the list of performers and repertoire, plus text and translation, for this online presentation.
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TMC Safety Procedures for Kannamma Recording Sessions
After careful consideration, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir decided to record its professional core of singers in the creation of Kannamma-a concert of Thanksgiving. Recordings were done in early September. The TMC developed an extensive safety protocol for recordings that followed City of Toronto guidelines regarding performers being a minimum of two metres/6 feet apart.
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Kannamma – TMC’s digital concert of Thanksgiving on Oct 10
From Bach to the Beatles, from visual arts to dance to drumming to singing – TMC’s concert of thanksgiving brings together an amazing group of artists in a program of choral music and more that evocatively expresses gratitude. Kannamma-a Concert of Thanksgiving will be livestreamed on Saturday, October 10 at 8 pm EDT
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