SINFONIA TORONTO

Media release ~ for immediate release ~ April 18, 2024

SINFONIA TORONTO PRESENTS 'VIVA VIOLINS'

Toronto, Ontario - Sinfonia Toronto will round out their 25th Anniversary season on Saturday, May 4 with a gorgeous program titled VIVA VIOLINS. Maestro Nurhan Arman will conduct a program which showcases the orchestra's virtuosity and versatility. Four superb Sinfonia Toronto violinists will be heard in beloved double concertos by Bach and Vivaldi. The orchestra will also play a melodic gem by Anton Arensky and Tchaikovsky's own favourite masterpiece, his 'Serenade for Strings'. The concert will begin at 8 pm at the Meridian Arts Centre, 5040 Yonge Street.

In commenting on the VIVA VIOLINS concert Nurhan Arman said, "It is always very special for us when we feature our own virtuoso members as soloists. I know our violinists Xiaohan Guo, Joyce Lee, Daphné Bourbonnais and Marcus Scholtes will electrify our audience and bring a unique perspective to these famous concertos by Bach and Vivaldi. I am also looking forward to closing our 25th anniversary season with one of the most beautiful string works ever written, the Serenade Tchaikovsky composed as a tribute to Mozart.

Born in Shenyang, China, our concertmaster Xiaohan Guo began her violin studies at the age of six, winning awards in numerous youth competitions. Continuing her musical education, she enrolled at the Shenyang Conservatory at the age of 13. After further studies at the Shanghai Conservatory, after graduating she joined the Shanghai Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra, performing with outstanding musicians such as Itzhak Perlman, Seiji Ozawa and Mstislav Rostropovich. In Canada she studied with Eleonora Turovsky at the Université de Montréal and completed her Master’s Degree. Xiaohan has given many solo and chamber music recitals at Chapel de Bon-Pasteur and Université de Montréal, and has been a soloist with I Musici de Montreal and Sinfonia Toronto.

Violinist Marcus Scholtes has a Doctorate of Music in Violin Performance from Indiana University, a Masters of Music from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and an Honours Bachelor of Music from McGill University. Dr. Scholtes has performed internationally at music festivals in Canada, the USA, and Europe and has attended the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme in England. He toured with the Aldeburgh World Orchestra in 2012 in Germany and Holland before playing at the BBC Proms as part of the 2012 London Olympiad. He is currently Associate Concertmaster of Sinfonia Toronto.

Principal Second Violinist of Sinfonia Toronto Joyce Lee was a fellow and co-concertmaster in TŌN (The Orchestra Now) in New York until moving to Toronto. She has served as concertmaster for various orchestras including the Chung Chi Orchestra of CUHK, the Pro Arte Orchestra of Hong Kong and the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Hong Kong. She also performed at the Pacific Music Festival and in the Asian Youth Orchestra. Born and raised in Hong Kong, she received a B.A. in Music from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and then an FTCL post-graduate certificate from Trinity College London. In 2014 Joyce earned the Western Instrument Scholarship First Prize in the 7th Hong Kong Students Open Music Competition. She also won the Golden Prize in the violin open class in the Hong Kong Bauhinia Cup String Competition. In the same year, she was awarded the Dr. T. H. Yip Memorial Scholarship of the E & R Foundation.Joyce earned an M.M. in Violin Performance at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. In addition to violin, Joyce studied orchestral conducting with Choi Ho Man.

First violinist Daphné Bourbonnais, was born in Rimouski, Québec. Daphné completed her master’s degree at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, where she also obtained a Chamber Music Diploma. Daphné has played with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, Orchestre de la Francophonie and is Concertmaster of l'Orchestre Symphonique de l’Estuaire. She has toured across Canada, Spain and South Korea. A new music enthusiast, Daphné loves to work with contemporary composers. She enjoys exploring different facets of the impact that music can have on everyone.

Nurhan Arman has conducted in 24 countries in Europe, Asia, South America, Canada, and the US, returning regularly to many orchestras in Europe. He concluded a busy 2022-23 season with concerts in Montreal, Greece, the Republic of Georgia and Italian orchestras in Friuli and Tuscany. In the 2023-24 season he guest conducts the Arpeggione Kammerorchester in Austria, Filarmonica Italiana, Naonis & Donatello Ensemble, Spain's Atlantida Chamber Orchestra in Madrid and tours in Georgia with the Arpeggione Kammerorchester.

Sinfonia Toronto has toured twice in Europe, in the US, South America and China, receiving glowing reviews. It has released six CD’s, including a JUNO Award winner. The orchestra plays annually in Barrie and performs in many other Ontario cities. Its extensive repertoire includes all the major string orchestra works of the 18th through 21st centuries, and it has premiered many new works.

Tickets for the May 4 concert are available at sinfoniatoronto.com

Contact for more information:

Margaret Chasins, Director of Operations

margaretchasins@sinfoniatoronto.com

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Media release ~ for immediate release ~ March 21, 2024

SINFONIA TORONTO PRESENTS MOZART'S SPRING

Delicious Classics with Two Guest Stars

Toronto, ON - Sinfonia Toronto will welcome the new season with one of Mozart’s most popular works on Friday, April 12 at the Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre. The orchestra will play Mozart’s “Spring” Quartet No. 14, K. 387 in an orchestral arrangement by Music Director Nurhan Arman. Part of a set Mozart wrote in tribute to Josef Haydn, its fresh, cheerful style breathes spring air into each of its four movements.

The concert will begin at 8 pm with the world premiere of Nina Grigoryan’s Prayer, composed to honour Sinfonia Toronto’s 25th Anniversary. The program also includes two virtuoso guest artists, in concertos written two centuries apart but similar in offering singing, lyrical themes. Italian flutist Mario Carbotta will play the late-Classical composer Saverio Mercadante’s Flute Concerto in E Minor, beloved for its elegant melodies; and the brilliant Canadian violist Sharon Wei will play the Concerto for Viola with Strings and Vibraphone by Marjan Mozetich, an unusual and beautiful combination of tone-colours.

Violist Sharon Wei is one of the most respected performers on her instrument, appearing with orchestras across Canada and taking part as a chamber musician in many international festivals. Her 2022-23 season included Musicians from Marlboro concerts in Carnegie Hall, Philadelphia and Washington DC and the International Viola Festival in Thailand. She is the violist of the New Orford String Quartet and has been guest Principal Violist of the Cincinnati Symphony, COC and Ensemble Matheus in Paris. Since 2000 she has been Principal Violist of the Verbier Chamber Orchestra, touring with Yuja Wang, Daniil Trifinov, Joshua Bell, Maxim Vengerov and Marta Argerich. She has been faculty at Yale and Stanford and is currently Associate Professor of Viola at Western University. She has recorded for Centrediscs, CBC, Onyx Classics, Warner Classics and is frequently heard on CBC Radio and Air Canada’s Enroute Entertainment.

Flutist Mario Carbotta has been an acclaimed soloist with Sinfonia Toronto in several previous seasons and has appeared with too many other orchestras to count, performing concertos throughout Italy and Germany and with the Istanbul Symphony and the Radio-Televison Orchestra of the People’s Republic of China. He is one of the world’s most-recorded flutists, with releases on Dynamic, Tactus, Nuova Era and Rugginenti. His discography includes the first contemporary recordings of works by Sammartini, all the works for flute by Nino Rota, solo and chamber music by Alessandro Rolla, and all of Saverio Mercadante’s flute concertos.

Nurhan Arman has conducted in 24 countries in Europe, Asia, South America, Canada, and the US, returning regularly to many orchestras in Europe. He concluded a busy 2022-23 season with concerts in Montreal, Greece, the Republic of Georgia and Italian orchestras in Friuli and Tuscany and in 2023-24 season he returned to the Arpeggione Chamber Orchestra in Austria and guest conducts in Madrid, Berlin and in Italy.

Sinfonia Toronto has toured twice in Europe, in the US, South America and China, receiving glowing reviews. It has released six CD’s, including a JUNO Award winner. The orchestra plays annually in Barrie and performs in many other Ontario cities. The orchestra’s extensive repertoire includes all the major string orchestra works of the 18th through 21st centuries, and it has premiered many new works.

Tickets for the April 12 concert are available at sinfoniatoronto.com

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Media release ~ for immediate release ~ February 1, 2024

SINFONIA TORONTO PLAYS SCHUMANN & DE FALLA AND MORE

A Virtuoso Voyage with Two Guest Stars

Toronto ON – Sinfonia Toronto will embark on a tour of Europe with two brilliant guest stars at their SCHUMANN & DE FALLA concert on March 2 at George Weston Recital Hall.

Italian pianist Antonio Di Cristofano will take listeners to Germany as he performs Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor. Mezzosoprano Beste Kalender will tour Spain and the Italian countryside with De Falla’s 'Seven Popular Spanish Songs' and Respighi’s 'Il Tramonto,' both works arranged for Sinfonia Toronto by Maestro Nurhan Arman.

The world premiere of Algerian composer Amine Soufari’s 'Reminiscences' and the Ontario premiere of Canadian composer Rodney Sharman’s 'After Schumann' continue the orchestra’s 25th Anniversary celebration of new music. 'After Schumann' utilizes special string techniques to produce a sound akin to a pan flute or bass recorder.

Beste Kalender is an accomplished mezzosoprano born in Istanbul. She found her passion for opera at an early age, leading her to pursue training in Turkey and graduate studies in Canada. She has been recognized as “New Artist of the Month” by Musical America magazine. Beste has performed operatic roles and recitals in Belarus, France, Italy, Norway, Russia and Turkey. She has appeared in the Toronto Summer Music Festival and has starred in opera productions in Toronto with VOICEBOX Opera, and Toronto Operetta Theatre and the Vancouver Opera Company.

Pianist Antonio Di Cristofano is a graduate of the Conservatory “L. Cherubini” in Florence. He has collaborated with renowned orchestras worldwide, including the Slovak Philharmonic, Prague Radio Symphony, Sinfonia Toronto and Czech Philharmonic, among many others. Di Cristofano's extensive repertoire has led him to festivals and major venues across the globe. His career highlights include a Carnegie Hall debut and performances at the Musikverein in Vienna.

Nurhan Arman has conducted in 24 countries in Europe, Asia, South America, Canada, and the US, returning regularly to many orchestras in Europe. He concluded a busy 2022-23 season with concerts in Montreal, Greece, the Republic of Georgia and Italian orchestras in Friuli and Tuscany and opened his 2023-24 season with a fourth return to the Arpeggione Chamber Orchestra in Austria and an engagement in Italy with Orchestra del Teatro Goldoni.

Tickets for the March 2 concert are available at sinfoniatoronto.com

Contact for more information:

Margaret Chasins, Director of Operations

margaretchasins@sinfoniatoronto.com

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Media release ~ January 31, 2024 ~ for immediate release

SINFONIA TORONTO ANNOUNCES 2024-2025 SEASON

Toronto, ON - Sinfonia Toronto has just announced their 2024-2025 season. The orchestra is currently celebrating its 25th season with premieres by Canadian and international composers and the return of beloved works and popular guest artists.

Commenting on the new season, Music Director Nurhan Arman said, "I am absolutely delighted with the roster of guest artists and the repertoire for our 2024-2025 season. It will be an absolute pleasure to make music with some soloists we are featuring again, like violinists Haik Kazazyan, Conrad Chow and pianists Anya Alexeyev and Sunny Ritter. And I am looking forward to collaborating with many wonderful artists who will make their debut with us - pianist Marianna Shirinyan, violinist Christina Bouey and David Baik, soprano Dominika Zamara, accordionist Maciej Frackiewicz and oboist Caitlin Broms-Jacobs - a great mix of Canadian and European artists making debuts with Sinfonia Toronto."

About the orchestra's repertoire for next season, Maestro Arman noted, "As always we will play a greatly varied, diverse repertoire. I am looking forward to performing favourites by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert and also premieres by Canadian composers Barbara Assiginaak, Norbert Palej, Andrew MacDonald and Kevin Lau. Part of our mission is to keep growing the repertoire."

Sinfonia Toronto's Director of Operations Margaret Chasins added, "We have also been working towards several recording projects that are likely to happen next season. We are grateful for support for our recent recordings and new works from SOCAN, the Ontario Arts Council and FACTOR, and espeically all the years of support from our audiences in the GTA and throughout Ontario. From our first few seasons onward we have played for audiences all over Ontario, from Sarnia to Sault Ste-Marie, Barrie to Brockville and in many other Ontario communities."

During the 2024-2025 season Sinfonia Toronto will continue serving both downtown Toronto and uptown and the 905 with concerts at the Trinity-St. Paul's Centre, the Jane Mallett Theatre and the Meridian Arts Centre in North York.

Details of the orchestra's next season are available at sinfoniatoronto.com. "Early-bird" subscription sales are available.

Biographies

Sinfonia Toronto now celebrating its 25th season, has toured twice in Europe, in the US, South America and China, receiving glowing reviews. It has released four CD’s, including a JUNO Award winner, and performs in many Ontario cities. Its extensive repertoire includes all the major string orchestra works of the 18th through 21st centuries, and it has premiered many new works. Under the baton of Nurhan Arman the orchestra’s performances present outstanding international guest artists and prominent Canadian musicians.

Maestro Nurhan Arman has conducted throughout Europe, Asia, South America, Canada and the US, returning regularly to many orchestras in Europe. Among the orchestras Maestro Arman has conducted are the Moscow Philharmonic, Deutsches Kammerorchester Frankfurt, Filarmonica Italiana, St. Petersburg State Hermitage Orchestra, Orchestre Regional d’Ile de France, Hungarian Symphony, Arpeggione Kammerorchester, Milano Classica and Belgrade Philharmonic.

For more information please contact:
Margaret Chasins, Director of Operations
margaretchasins@sinfoniatoronto.com

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Media release ~ January 2, 2024 ~ for immediate release

SINFONIA TORONTO CELEBRATES MOZART & JANACEK

Toronto, ON – Sinfonia Toronto will celebrate Mozart’s 268th birthday, just one day after their concert, and also nod to Janacek's 170th anniversary year at their MOZART & JANACEK concert on Friday, January 26 at the Trinity St-Paul’s Centre. Music Director Nurhan Arman and the orchestra will create winter warmth with a famous Classical concerto and Romantic folk themes

Ukrainian-Canadian Pianist Dmitri Levkovich, an audience favourite in earlier seasons, returns to play Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, considered by many to be Mozart's finest. Dmitri has been hailed by music critics in Europe such as the influential German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung which applauded "an artistic sophistication far above the ordinary."

With Maestro Arman at the helm, the orchestra will perform Leoš Janáček’s Idyll for Strings. Composed to celebrate the birth of his daughter, it evokes the feelings of love, happiness, and warmth that marked this period of the composer’s life.

The program also includes acclaimed Canadian composer Alice Ping Yee Ho’s Quest. The orchestra continues to celebrate its 25th anniversary with the world premiere of In Festive Commemoration by Canadian composer Kevork Andonian.

Dmitri Levkovich honed his piano skills under the guidance of prominent teacher Sergei Babayan for 11 years and studied composition at the Curtis Institute of Music. Renowned for exceptional artistry, Dmitri has garnered praise for his “profound musical understanding” (American Record Guide). He is the winner of more than a dozen top awards from international competitions, including the Cleveland, Jose Iturbi, and Gina Bachauer Competitions. Performing worldwide, from the Berlin Philharmonie to Carnegie Hall, he has built a diverse repertoire. His own compositions have gained wide recognition, with upcoming performances by the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra and the Verbier Festival Orchestra.

Nurhan Arman has conducted in 24 countries in Europe, Asia, South America, Canada, and the US, returning regularly to many orchestras in Europe. He concluded a busy 2022-23 season with concerts in Montreal, Greece, the Republic of Georgia and Italian orchestras in Friuli and Tuscany, and opens his 2023-24 season with a fourth return to the Arpeggione Kammerorchester in Austria and a return engagement with the Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana.

Tickets for the MOZART & JANACEK concert are available at sinfoniatoronto.com

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Media release ~ September 8, 2023 ~ for immediate release

VIOLIST JACOB CLEWELL JOINS SINFONIA TORONTO

Sinfonia Toronto announces the appointment of violist Jacob Clewell. The young virtuoso won the position at section viola auditions held yesterday, September 6.

In making the announcement Music Director Nurhan Arman commented, "Jacob Clewell has a brilliant technique and plays with a great sense of stylistic purity, a wonderfully expressive tone and beautiful phrasing. He is a fine musician and will be a great fit with the orchestra's performing style. I am delighted to welcome him to Sinfonia Toronto."

American violist Jacob Clewell stands in the vanguard of musicians of his generation. Gold Medalist of the 2017 Vancouver International Music Competition, standout moments from recent activities include solo and chamber performances at the Scotia Festival, Green Lake Chamber Music Festival, Le Domaine Forget, Lake District Summer Music, Northern Lights Festival of Mexico, and Festival Pablo Casals in Prades, France. Jacob has appeared alongside members of the Escher, Emerson, Endellion, Cypress, and Penderecki quartets, Gryphon Trio, Berlin Philharmonic, Seattle and Toronto symphonies, and with pianists Pedja Muzijevic and Andrew Armstrong. He has appeared as a guest artist with numerous orchestras and chamber series, toured in the US and Canada, and performed in Toronto's Koerner Hall and Weill Recital Hall in New York.

Jacob holds degrees from the Cornish College of the Arts, Stony Brook University, and The Glenn Gould School, and earned his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Toronto, where he was a teaching assistant in violin, viola, and chamber music.

He is Co-Artistic Director and Artist-Faculty of Viola at the annual Emerald Coast Chamber Music Festival in Florida, and directs the Mosbacher Salon Collective in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Jacob's first performance with Sinfonia Toronto will take place on Saturday, October 21 in the orchestra's BEETHOVEN'S FIFTH! concert in George Weston Recital Hall at the Meridian Arts Centre.

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Media release ~ February 6, 2023 ~ for immediate release

PIANO PRODIGY PLAYS MOZART WITH SINFONIA TORONTO

Toronto, ON - Sinfonia Toronto will feature the young piano prodigy Sunny Ritter at its Mozart & Shostakovich concert. The orchestra's performance on Saturday, March 4 will take place in George Weston Recital Hall. Music Director Nurhan Arman will conduct a program including Dmitri Shostakovich's 'Chamber Symphony opus 83', Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 and the world premiere of Canadian composer Vania Angelova's Passacaglia, which is dedicated to Maestro Arman.

In commenting on the program, Maestro Arman said, "I am so excited about this amazing piano prodigy Sunny Ritter. I heard her three years ago in a competition, and since then she has won several more competitions. She is clearly destined for great things! Mozart's 21st is one of his greatest concertos. a work of absolute genius, and I am sure Sunny will be dazzling in it. I am also looking forward to one of Shostakovich's most important masterpieces. His Opus 83 is a work of incredible emotional dimensions, a window into his mind and heart. It is personal, dramatic and exciting music with Middle Eastern overtones. And of course it is always a thrill to perform a world premiere. We have played Vania Angelova's music before and her Passacaglia is a tour de force from a compositional perspective."

Pianist Sunny Ritter has studied at Toronto’s RCM Taylor Academy, the Musikuniversität Wien and the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Since her first gold medal at six years old, Sunny has triumphed at more than 25 international piano competitions in Austria, Germany, Italy, Romania, Russia, and Canada. She swept up the first prize and all special prizes at the Steinway Klavierspielwettbewerb and received the Grand Prize across all age categories at Mihaela Ursuleasa International Piano Competition. At 10, she competed at the senior level and won the top prize at Toronto’s Kiwanis Festival. Sunny made her orchestral debut in Bucharest and at Vienna’s Rathaus at eight years old. She has just been invited to perform at Vienna's Musikverein in June 2023.

Through the past 23 seasons Sinfonia Toronto has received glowing reviews on tour in Europe, the US, South America and China. It has released four CD’s, including a JUNO winner, and performs throughout Ontario. Its extensive repertoire includes all the major string orchestra works of the 18th through 21st centuries, and it has premiered many new works. Under the baton of Nurhan Arman, the orchestra’s performances present outstanding international guest artists and prominent Canadian musicians.

Nurhan Arman has conducted in 24 countries in Europe, Asia, South America, Canada and the US, returning regularly to many orchestras in Europe. Among the orchestras Maestro Arman has conducted are the Moscow Philharmonic, Deutsches Kammerorchester Frankfurt, Filarmonica Italiana, St. Petersburg State Hermitage Orchestra, Orchestre Regional d’Ile de France, Hungarian State Symphony, Arpeggione Kammerorchester, Milano Classica and Belgrade Philharmonic.

Tickets for in-person and virtual attendance for the March 4 concert are available at sinfoniatoronto.com.

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Media release ~ February 1, 2023

QUEBEC VIOLINIST WINS SINFONIA TORONTO POSITION

Sinfonia Toronto announces the appointment of Québec violinist Daphné Bourbonnais to the orchestra's first violin section. At auditions on Monday January 30 Ms. Bourbonnais won the position from among nine invitees selected from more than a dozen applicants.

In making the announcement Music Director Nurhan Arman commented that "Daphné Bourbonnais possesses a highly developed technique, a marvellously expressive bow arm and innate musicianship. She is a sensitive musician and will be a great fit with our performing style. I am absolutely delighted to welcome her to Sinfonia Toronto."

Born in Rimouski, Québec, Daphné completed her master’s degree at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, where she also obtained a Chamber Music Diploma. Daphné has played with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, Orchestre de la Francophonie and l'Orchestre Symphonique de l’Estuaire. She has toured across Canada, Spain and South Korea.

A new music enthusiast, Daphné loves to work with contemporary composers. She enjoys exploring different facets of the impact that music can have on everyone.

Daphné's first performance with Sinfonia Toronto will take place on Saturday, March 4 in the orchestra's "Mozart & Shostakovich" concert in George Weston Recital Hall at the Meridian Arts Centre.

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Media Release - January 27, 2023

SINFONIA TORONTO ANNOUNCES ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

Sinfonia Toronto is starting the New Year with the announcement of a formal environmental policy. The orchestra's board of directors has approved a set of guidelines, stating, "Our goal is to offer a rich musical experience with a low carbon footprint. We are taking purposeful steps to reduce the climate and environmental impact of our events. We are working to make our policy inclusive of all stakeholders: our musicians, our patrons, our board and volunteers, and our sponsors and other partners."

In hailing this development the orchestra's music director Nurhan Arman noted, "since our founding days we have been environmentally cautious in many aspects of our operations. This has been an ongoing concern that was publicly expressed in our 2003-2004 season programming - that entire season was thematically programmed and titled "Playing for our fragile environment." Every concert included music inspired by the environment."

Maestro Arman added that another major environmental initiative will be revealed at the orchestra's next concert, on March 4 in George Weston Recital Hall.

The orchestra has already been print-free in a number of aspects of operations for some years, transitioning from printed promotional materials to online marketing, discarding printed concert programs for digital programs, and implementing electronic accounting records and audits.

The full environmental policy is available under Discover on the orchestra's website, www.sinfoniatoronto.com

Now in its 24th season, Sinfonia Toronto has toured twice in Europe, in the US, South America and China, receiving glowing reviews. It has released four CD’s, including a JUNO Award winner, and performs in many Ontario cities. Its extensive repertoire includes all the major string orchestra works of the 18th through 21st centuries, and it has premiered many new works. Under the baton of Nurhan Arman the orchestra’s performances present outstanding international guest artists and prominent Canadian musicians. The orchestra is supported by operating grants from the Canada Council, Toronto Arts Council and Ontario Arts Council.

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For further information on this media release please contact: Margaret Chasins, Director of Operations

margaretchasins@sinfoniatoronto.com

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Media Release - November 22, 2022

SINFONIA TORONTO CONTRASTS BEETHOVEN & HAYDN

Sinfonia Toronto presents a beautifully eclectic concert titled Beethoven & Haydn on December 9 at 8 pm in Jane Mallett Theatre. Led by Music Director Nurhan Arman, the program will include works with dramatically contrasting styles by Beethoven, Haydn and Andrew Balfour, and will feature the brilliant soprano Lynn Anoush Isnar in songs by Beethoven, Zemlinsky and Verdi.

The concert will open with Maestro Arman’s orchestral arrangement of Haydn’s Quartet in E flat Major, "The Joke," a humorous work in which Haydn launched a new approach to string quartets, replacing the traditional minuet movement with a playful scherzo and writing a witty surprise ending.

Old and new will mesh in Pyotr’s Dream by Andrew Balfour, a Canadian composer of Cree descent, a member of Fisher River First Nation. Re-casting Tchaikovsky’s Hymn of the Cherubim, Pyotr’s Dream embraces music appreciation as a spiritual truth. Balfour notes, “Strings lend themselves to a singing tone, echoing the voice of the choral tradition, and help create a heightened sense of spirituality that is a universal.”

The concert will end with Maestro Arman’s orchestral arrangement of Beethoven’s String Quartet Opus 95, "Serioso," a piece that reflects Beethoven’s distress over personal problems including a failed love affair, but nonetheless ends in a buoyant, optimistic mood.

Looking forward to the Beethoven and Haydn and the program's other works, Maestro Arman stated, “In between these two major works, we have the Balfour and a bouquet of soprano arias, so it should be a really interesting program.”

Audiences will be able to attend in person or by livestream and post-stream concert video. Sinfonia Toronto welcomes both Toronto-area listeners as well as virtual listeners coast-to-coast and abroad who have discovered a love for music online with Sinfonia Toronto.

Armenian-Canadian soprano Lynn Anoush Isnar has been hailed for her “terrific stratospheric high notes” (Opera Canada). She has starred in opera roles including Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, the title role in Katya Kabanova, Emma in Khovanshchina, Adele in Die Fledermaus and many others. During the 2021-22 season she recorded with Sinfonia Toronto for an upcoming CD of works by Canadian composer Colin Eatock. She will also appear this season with OperaFest and Mightier Productions. Ms. Isnar’s performance with the orchestra is made possible by a Guest Artist Sponsorship from Armen Krikorian/Big City Realty.

Tickets and the livestream for December 9 and 2022-23 subscriptions are available at sinfoniatoronto.com.

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Media Release - October 17, 2022

SINFONIA TORONTO PREMIERES HARP CONCERTO BY

JUNO-WINNING COMPOSER

Toronto, ON – Sinfonia Toronto's 24th season continues on November 11 at 8 pm in Trinity St-Paul's Centre with a concert titled “Autumn Serenade.” Led by Music Director Nurhan Arman, the concert will feature the world premiere of Harp Concerto by renowned Canadian composer Chan Ka Nin with the brilliant soloist Teresa Suen-Campbell.

The performance will also feature Italian flutist Luisa Sello in a favourite selection by Carl Stamitz, an elegant concerto that provides a lovely introduction to music from the Classical period. Early works by Mozart and the late-Romantic composer Josef Suk round out a program spanning three centuries.

The concert will open with Maestro Nurhan Arman’s orchestral arrangement of Mozart’s String Quartet No. 2, composed in Milan when Mozart was just sixteen years of age. The eagerly-awaited world premiere of Toronto composer Chan Ka Nin’s Harp Concerto will follow, a highly personal work written during the pandemic while thinking of those most vulnerable.

On performing this world premiere, Music Director Nurhan Arman commented, “The harp for us is very special, it’s a wonderful, heavenly instrument really, and it doesn’t happen everyday that anywhere in the world a new harp concerto is composed and premiered.”

After Stamitz’s Flute Concerto in G Major the orchestra will play Suk’s Serenade in E flat major, written to promote his long - and eventually successful - courtship of his teacher Antonin Dvořák’s daughter.

Audiences will have the option to attend either in-person or by livestream and post-stream concert video. Sinfonia Toronto welcomes both Toronto-area listeners as well as virtual listeners coast-to-coast and abroad who have discovered a love for music online with Sinfonia Toronto.

Harpist Teresa Suen-Campbell has performed with the Hong Kong City Chamber Orchestra, Hong Kong Strings, and SAR Philharmonic. Her playing was described as “angelic solo rendering” by the Financial Times. An eloquent advocate for contemporary music, Teresa has worked with many composers and previously commissioned two concertos and two solo works for the harp.

Luisa Sello has performed as a recitalist and chamber musician throughout Europe, the United States, South America, Russia and in Asia. In recent seasons she has performed throughout the Midwest, as well as in Italy, Scotland, Thailand and China. She is in constant demand as a teacher, conducting dozens of international masterclasses each year. In Toronto she will give a masterclass on Sunday afternoon, November 6, in Long & McQuade’s Bloor Street auditorium. The masterclass and her performance with Sinfonia Toronto are generously sponsored by Long & McQuade.

November 11 tickets and livestream access and 2022-23 subscriptions are available at www.sinfoniatoronto.com.

For more information please contact:

Margaret Chasins, Director of Operations

margaretchasins@sinfoniatoronto.com

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Media release ~ October 1, 2022

SINFONIA TORONTO OPENS SEASON WITH CANADIAN STARS

Toronto, ON - Sinfonia Toronto launches their 24th season on October 22 at 8 pm in George Weston Recital Hall with a concert titled Dvorak & Doubles. The concert will feature not just two, but in fact four iconic Canadian guests. Music Director Nurhan Arman will lead the orchestra in two sparkling double concertos performed by pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico and violinist Marc Djokic, and both renowned concerto composers will be present, Alice Ping Yee Ho and Christos Hatzis.

Alice Ping Yee Ho's Capriccio Ballo for Violin, Piano and Strings and Christos Hatzis' Arabesque for Violin, Piano and String Orchestra are both lyrical, highly personal works with brilliant passages to display their soloists' virtuosity; Arabesque is a self-declared musical autobiography.

After intermission Maestro Nurhan Arman will lead the orchestra in a special treat to welcome audiences back to in-person attendance, one of the most popular works of the Romantic period, Dvorak's Serenade for Strings, a joyous five-movement piece he wrote while delighted at the birth of his son and buoyed by increasing success in his career.

The concert will also be livestreamed. While delighted to be reaching listeners at home and far beyond the GTA, Maestro Arman emphasizes welcoming back in-person audiences, “When there is a live audience, there is that secret chemistry in the air, there is some electricity that creates even more excitement for us.”

Hailed by the New York Times as a “promethean talent” at age 14, pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico has recorded more than 50 albums including three nominated for JUNO awards, introduced more than 200 new works across Canada and perfomed in the US, Taiwan, the Middle East, France, Germany, Greece and Ukraine, and has been an eloquent advocate at the keyboard for music by women composers.

Winner of the 2017-2018 Mécénat Musica Prix Goyer and a Prix Opus from the Conseil québécois de la musique, violinist Marc Djokic is one of Canada’s busiest artists. In addition to Sinfonia Toronto, Marc has soled with the Toronto Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Quebec Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Sudbury Symphony and McGill Chamber Orchestra. He has toured throughout Canada under the auspices of BC Touring, Jeunesses Musicales and Debut Atlantic and is Concertmaster of the Orchestre Classique de Montreal.

Through the past 23 seasons Sinfonia Toronto has received glowing reviews on tour in Europe, the US, South America and China. It has released four CD’s, including a JUNO winner, and performs throughout Ontario. Its extensive repertoire includes all the major string orchestra works of the 18th through 21st centuries, and it has premiered many new works. Under the baton of Nurhan Arman the orchestra’s performances present outstanding international guest artists and prominent Canadian musicians.

October 22 tickets and livestream access and 2022-23 subscriptions are available at www.sinfoniatoronto.com.

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For more information on this release please contact:

Margaret Chasins, Director of Operations

margaretchasins@sinfoniatoronto.com

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Media Release September 6, 2022

SINFONIA TORONTO STREAMS TO SENIORS IN LTC HOMES

Sinfonia Toronto's outreach to seniors unable to attend concerts in person will continue during the 2022-2023 season thanks to an Ontario Seniors Community grant.

The orchestra's 'Serenading our Seniors' program provides free access to monthly concert videos for LTC home activities staff to play for their residents on large screens as social occasions in lounges or on smaller devices for residents in individual rooms.

Launched in January 2021 with initial support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation and 20 partner homes, 'Serenading our Seniors' has grown significantly. With 42 homes partnering this fall, the program will reach homes in the GTA, Kingston, London, Ottawa, Sudbury and more distant locations from Ailsa Craig to Thessalon.

Residents this season will hear a wide range of musical styles, Classical and Romantic as well as many works by living Canadian composers, and exciting Canadian soloists performing with the orchestra on piano, violin, bassoon and harp plus voice.

Concert videos provide entertainment and increase mental health and general well-being. The program has received feedback from activities staff like this comment from a coordinator at a City of Toronto home: “residents' feedback on this program was very positive, not only did it improve their mood, it triggered memories of their past lives when they would attend events with their families, and triggered nostalgic conversations with the group.” Staff survey responses analyzed by an arms-length consultant indicate improvement in mood not only for cognitively-well seniors but also for almost half of residents with dementias.

Led by Music Director Nurhan Arman, Sinfonia Toronto is entering its 24th season. The orchestra's season is supported by operating grants from the Canada Council, Toronto Arts Council and Ontario Arts Council.

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For further information on the 'Serenading our Seniors' program, the 'Concerts under Construction' school program and Masterpiece Series concerts, contact info@sinfoniatoronto.com

For immediate release ~ April 21, 2022

SINFONIA TORONTO ANNOUNCES 2022-2023 SEASON

Toronto, ON - Sinfonia Toronto has just announced their 2022-2023 concert season. The new season will celebrate returning to live concerts with the resilience and exciting talents of artists from the newest generation to Canadian icons. Next season marks the orchestra's 24th year of performances in Toronto and throughout Ontario. The orchestra has performed in Ontario cities from Brockville to Sarnia and appeared annually on the Barrie Concert Series and the Algoma Conservatory Concerts in Sault Ste-Marie.

In 2022-2023 Sinfonia Toronto will again present a hybrid season, combining in-person and virtual concerts. The orchestra will present four Downtown Concerts at the Trinity St-Paul's Centre and Jane Mallett Theatre and three North York Concerts in George Weston Recital Hall at the Meridian Arts Centre. Audiences will be able to purchase virtual or in-person tickets, accommodating both GTA music-lovers and virtual listeners coast-to-coast-to-coast and abroad who have discovered Sinfonia Toronto online.

In announcing the new season, Music Director Nurhan Armanstated, "I am delighted to announce a season full of great music and brilliant guest artists. Our season will include world premiere performances. beloved classics and great Canadian works both old and new."

In 2022-23 Sinfonia Toronto will continue their Digital Inclusion Project, bringing the joy of music to residents in an ever-expanding list of long-term care homes, already consisting of 30 partner homes. Maestro Arman has spoken about this project with keen enthusiasm, noting that "this project enriches the lives of people who are unable to attend concerts in person even when public health conditions are normal."

The new season features pianists Christina Petrowska Quilico, Jean-Philippe Sylvestre and Sunny Ritter; violinists Marc Djokic and Julia Mirzoev; soprano Lynn Isnar; bassoonist Samuel Fraser; harpist Teresa Suen-Campbell; Italian flutist Luisa Sello; and German maestro Johannes Rieger.

Season highlights will include performances of beloved serenades by Antonin Dvorak and Josef Suk, an orchestral version of Beethoven’s Opus 95 "Serioso" String Quartet; world premieres of works by Canadian composers Vania Angelova, Chan Ka Nin and Wayne Toews; four works by Canadian female composers; and three works by Indigenous Canadian composers.

In addition to the Toronto concert series, the orchestra's 2022-2023 season will include a recording project with pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico and violinist Marc Djokic for a CD of double concertos by three eminent Canadian composers, Christos Hatzis, Alice Ping Yee Ho and Larysa Kuzmenko, and a projected return tour of South America in spring 2023.

Full concert details and 2022-2023 subscriptions are now available from the orchestra's website.