The Royal Conservatory's 2017-18 Concert Season Highlights
The Royal Conservatory's 2017-18 Concert Season Highlights
Published on July 22, 2017
Close to 100 concerts announced for the 2017-18 concert season
June 5, 2017 • Please include in your listings/announcements
Close to 100 concerts announced for the 2017-18 concert season
Season Gala with beloved film star Bill Murray accompanied by cellist Jan Vogler and friends
Johnny Clegg – The Final Journey World Tour
TD Jazz: The Roots of Jazz features a six-concert gumbo of some of the ‘ingredients’ of jazz,
including a reunion of iconic South Africans Hugh Masekela and Abdullah Ibrahim
Violin superstar Joshua Bell makes his Koerner Hall debut
The Glenn Gould School celebrates 20 years
and the Royal Conservatory Orchestra is conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy,
Tania Miller, Leon Fleisher, and Johannes Debus
Two all-female concert series: Invesco Piano Concerts
and the third edition of Quiet Please, There’s A Lady On Stage
Seminal 20th century work, The Rite of Spring, alongside 21st century pieces
by Philip Glass and Bryce Dessner performed by the Labèque sisters
Stellar vocalists include Canadians Barbara Hannigan and Gerald Finley,
along with a special Valentine’s Day recital featuring British tenor Ian Bostridge
Cellists Gautier Capuçon, Nicolas Altstaedt, and Clemens Hagen make their Koerner Hall debuts
30th anniversary of Amici Chamber Ensemble with Isabel Bayrakdarian
Bernstein @ 100 celebrated by
Jamie Bernstein, Sebastian Knauer, Wallis Giunta, and The Royal Conservatory’s
very own ARC Ensemble (Artists of The Royal Conservatory)
Angela Hewitt performs an all Bach program,
Ian Bostridge with Julius Drake an all Schubert program,
and Clemens Hagen with Kirill Gerstein an all Beethoven program
Jordi Savall returns to Koerner Hall with a new program of Celtic music
World Music concerts feature DakhaBrakha, the 50th anniversary of Inti-Illimani with Nano Stern,
Crosscurrents with Zakir Hussain and Dave Holland, Javier Limón’s Paco de Lucía Project,
and the returns of Diego El Cigala, Yasmin Levy, and the New Canadian Global Music Orchestra
Music Mix concerts include Max Raabe and Palast Orchester in their fourth appearance in Koerner Hall, Skratch Bastid & DJ Jazzy Jeff, and the debuts of Holly Cole and Black Arm Band
Music On Film returns for the 5th consecutive year
21C Music Festival returns for fifth installment in May 2018
2017-18 Concert Season Highlights
Dr. Peter Simon, Michael and Sonja Koerner President & CEO of The Royal Conservatory of Music, Mervon Mehta, Executive Director of Performing Arts, and James Anagnoson, Dean of The Glenn Gould School, revealed today the details of the ninth concert season since the opening of Koerner Hall in 2009.
“This richly diverse, genre-crossing concert season demonstrates the commitment of The Royal Conservatory to promoting the finest talent from Canada and the world and inspiring people through music,” says Dr. Peter Simon. “It is gratifying that Canada’s Koerner Hall is acknowledged by the world’s leading artists as one of the finest in the world today and an important point of distinction for our city.”
Mervon Mehta said: “In our ninth season of concerts in Koerner Hall, we welcome artists from over 30 countries; our piano series is an all-female affair; some of our closest friends – Johnny Clegg, Yuja Wang, and Max Raabe –return while over 40 artists make their debuts with us. Our philosophy remains the same as it did when we began on September 25, 2009: to present the finest artists from around the world and from across Canada in one of the world’s great concert halls. We are thrilled that Koerner Hall has become home to a wide range of music that can include local Juno Award winners Okavango on one night, violin superstar Joshua Bell on another, and South African legend Hugh Masekela on a third. Of course, none of this would be possible without our curious and adventurous audience who fill the hall night after night. To them we offer our sincerest thanks.”
Two concerts in the upcoming season are already sold out – the Season Gala with beloved film star Bill Murray accompanied by cellist Jan Vogler and friends and the re-scheduled appearance of pianist Daniil Trifonov.
Much-loved South African musician Johnny Clegg, who has sold out Koerner Hall on three previous occasions, will appear at The Conservatory one last time in October. Diagnosed with cancer in 2015, he has decided to embark on his last tour, stopping at his favorite places and venues, which include Toronto and Koerner Hall.
TD Jazz: The Roots of Jazz series features a six-concert gumbo of some of the ‘ingredients’ of jazz, such as African and Latin rhythms, the blues, the Great American Songbook, swing, and bebop. The performers include the Miles Electric Band, Latin pianists Alfredo Rodríguez and Danilo Pérez, powerful vocalist Dianne Reeves, iconic South African jazz instrumentalists Hugh Masekela and Abdullah Ibrahim in their reunion after almost 60 years, American pianist Gerald Clayton who made a memorable Koerner Hall debut in the unforgettable Oscar @ 90 concert in 2015, as well as the return of The Hot Sardines and the debut by Flávia Nascimento.
The Glenn Gould School, The Royal Conservatory of Music’s internationally recognized centre for professional training in music performance at the post-secondary and post-bachelor levels, celebrates 20 years during the 2017-18 concert season with a unique performance of the complete Rachmaninov Preludes in the Glenn Gould School Piano Showcase in April. Additionally, The Conservatory has launched Resounding! The Campaign for The Glenn Gould School, through which it will engage the community in reflecting on the incredible successes of the past 20 years and seek support for the next 20 years and beyond. The four Royal Conservatory Orchestra performances will be conducted by friends Gábor Takács-Nagy, Tania Miller, Ihnatowycz Chair in Piano Leon Fleisher, and Johannes Debus.
The Conservatory presents two all-female concert series: Invesco Piano Concerts, featuring Canadian Angela Hewitt, French sisters Katia and Marielle Labèque, Georgian Khatia Buniatishvili, Italian Beatrice Rana, and Chinese Yuja Wang, and the third edition of Quiet Please, There’s A Lady On Stage with the returns of Lisa Fischer, Angélique Kidjo, and Fatoumata Diawara (with special guest, Juno Award-winning Okavango), and the debuts of Calypso Rose (accompanied by Toronto’s Kobo Town), and Canadian chanteuse Emilie-Claire Barlow.
Sibling duo pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque will present the original version of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, as well as recent works by Bryce Dessner (from The National) and Philip Glass.
Stellar vocalists include Canadians Barbara Hannigan in her long-awaited Koerner Hall debut and Gerald Finley in his long-awaited return to the Hall, as well as a special Valentine’s Day recital featuring British tenor Ian Bostridge. Both Finley and Bostridge will be accompanied by one of the finest instrumentalists in his field, Julius Drake.
Cellists Gautier Capuçon, Nicolas Altstaedt, and Clemens Hagen make their Koerner Hall debuts accompanied by equally formidable pianists Jérôme Ducros, Fazil Say, and Kirill Gerstein, respectively.
Anniversary celebrations include the 30th anniversary of Amici Chamber Ensemble with Isabel Bayrakdarian playing some of the Ensemble’s favourite pieces from their impressive career, and Bernstein @ 100 celebrated by
Sebastian Knauer, Bernestein’s daughter Jamie Bernstein, Conservatory alumna Wallis Giunta, and The Conservatory’s very own ARC Ensemble (Artists of The Royal Conservatory).
Spanish viol master Jordi Savall returns to Koerner Hall with his ensemble, Hespèrion XXI, as well as the Galician bagpiper Carlos Núñez, in a special program titled “Celtic Universe” – a musical dialogue between ancient, historical, and modern traditions of north and south Europe: Ireland, Scotland, the French Brittany, Galicia, and the Basque Country.
World Music concerts feature Ukrainian “ethnic chaos” band DakhaBrakha, the 50th anniversary of legendary Chilean band Inti-Illimani with fellow Chilean singer-songwriter Nano Stern, Crosscurrents with tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain and jazz bassist Dave Holland, the New Canadian Global Music Orchestra in their second appearance in Koerner Hall, the returns of flamenco guitarist Diego El Cigala and Israeli-Spanish singer-songwriter Yasmin Levy. Additionally, Javier Limón’s Paco de Lucía Project brings together the original band members that toured with the legendary flamenco guitarist for the last 10 years of his career.
Music Mix concerts include the dashing, dapper, and debonair Max Raabe with his Palast Orchester in their fourth appearance in Koerner Hall. Canada’s own turntable champion and crowd favourite Skratch Bastid, who last appeared at The Conservatory with the Afiara String Quartet during the 21C Music Festival in 2015, brings his friend DJ Jazzy Jeff for an evening of turntable madness. Other highlights of the series are the debuts of Canadian jazz singer Holly Cole and Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander music theatre organisation, Black Arm Band. Finally, after the success of Piaf! The Show, which sold out Koerner Hall in 2015, the same ensemble brings the charm of Paris to Koerner Hall again with a brand new program titled PARIS! Le Spectacle.
Over the past three seasons, several concerts have been livestreamed as part of “Live at Koerner Hall” online concerts. In its ninth season, Koerner Hall will continue streaming select performances, ensuring that Canadians from coast-to-coast have access to the finest ‘live’ concert experience.
For the fifth consecutive season, the Music On Film series takes place at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema as Hot Docs and The Royal Conservatory together showcase inspiring music documentaries that explore different musical genres, followed by post-screening discussions and performances with film makers and accomplished musicians led by Mervon Mehta, Executive Director of Performing Arts at The Royal Conservatory. The films are screened on select Tuesdays in October, November, January, February, March, and April.
21C Music Festival will return for its fifth installment in May 2018. It will consist of eight concerts and run May 23-27, 2018. Details of the Festival will be announced in February 2018.
Media Contact:
Barbora Kršek, Concert Publicity Manager and Publications Editor
416.408.2824 ext.265; [email protected]
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