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.
SINFONIA TORONTO
Nurhan Arman, Music Director
Media release – April 18, 2023 - for immediate release
SINFONIA TORONTO WRAPS THEIR SEASON WITH ROMANCE
Toronto, ON - Sinfonia Toronto’s May 6 VERDI & FRANCK concert in George Weston Recital Hall will leave listeners with intense emotions and humming beautiful melodies. The program focuses on the Romantic Era and the premiere of a work resonating with social issues.
Pianist Jean-Philippe Sylvestre will join the orchestra for Music Director Nurhan Arman’s orchestration of César Franck’s Piano Quintet, a work of such passion that it shocked 19th-century performers and critics and then became more popular in the 20th Century.
The other Romantic work will be Giuseppe Verdi’s only large-scale instrumental piece. Famous for operas like Aida and La Traviata, Verdi composed his String Quartet while waiting to start rehearsals with a soprano who had a cold. Its soaring bel canto melodies turn the strings into operatic characters in four dramatic movements.
Maestro Arman notes about these works, “They are chamber works with expansive architecture and wonderful emotional depth; in orchestral versions they become symphonies. Verdi’s quartet has such appeal and symphonic proportions that Toscanini arranged it for symphony orchestra and conducted it many times.”
The orchestra will also give the world premiere of Mu-Qu-La by Saskatchewan composer Wayne Toews, who explains “The name MU-QU-LA appears on the back of a Moon mask that Awasaklas gave me in appreciation for teaching his granddaughter violin.” Awasaklas, also known as Russell Smith, was a notable artist from the Kwakiutl First Nation.
Pianist Jean-Philippe Sylvestre has been awarded the Canada Council’s Virginia Parker Prize and First Prize and the People's Choice Award at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition. He is a laureate of the CBC National Competition for Young Performers and the Concertino Praga International Competition. He won First Prize in the Canadian Music Competition three times, once with the competition’s highest possible score. In 2015 he received a Quebec Council award for a six-month residency in Paris. He has played with the Montreal Symphony; Orchestre Métropolitain; Laval, Longueuil and Trois-Rivière orchestras and has performed recitals in Paris, Toulouse, Brussels, Berlin, Amsterdam, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Berlin, Brazil and the US. His recordings with the Orchestre Métropolitain received JUNO, ADISQ and Prix Opus nominations.
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. He will conclude a busy 2022-23 season by guest-conducting concerts in Montreal, Greece, the Republic of Georgia and orchestras in Friuli and Tuscany in Italy.
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. The orchestra is supported by operating grants from the Canada Council, Toronto Arts Council and Ontario Arts Council.
Tickets for in-person and virtual attendance for the May 6 VERDI & FRANCK concert are available at sinfoniatoronto.com.
For more information please contact:
Margaret Chasins, Director of Operations
margaretchasins@sinfoniatoronto.com
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MEDIA RELEASE - March 9, 2023
OTF Grant Helps Sinfonia Toronto Strike a Greener Note!
Toronto, ON - On Saturday, March 4th, Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) representative Angelo Ioannides joined Sinfonia Toronto board member Michael McLarney on the George Weston Recital Hall stage at the Meridian Arts Centre in North York to recognize a $13,800 Capital Stream grant it received from the OTF in late 2022. The grant has enabled Sinfonia Toronto to acquire tablets, tripods, page-turn foot pedals and music-reading apps for its musicians to use for rehearsing and performing.
“The arts are the heart and soul of our community and Sinfonia Toronto plays an integral role in North York's diverse, bustling live music scene,” said Stan Cho, MPP for Willowdale. “Provided through the Ontario Trillium Foundation Capital Stream, this grant will help Sinfonia Toronto upgrade its operations and continue to provide joy and entertainment for local residents for years to come.”
The OTF Capital Stream grant supports an exciting step in implementing the orchestra’s recently published Environmental Policy. Using the tablets will remove the need for thousands of pages of printed music every year, as well as the carbon footprint of distributing print copies. Saturday’s “Mozart and Shostakovich” concert was the orchestra’s first public occasion showcasing performance with the new technology.
Music Director Nurhan Arman originally proposed the use of tablets to Sinfonia Toronto’s Board of Directors in 2021. The idea was a perfect fit with the organization’s increasing motivation to find ways to act on the arts’ responsibility to reduce their environmental impact.
“In addition to ‘greening’ our orchestra operations, tablets will also make a better, more direct experience for our audiences, as they create a much smaller visual interruption between the audience and musicians than traditional music stands,” said Maestro Arman.
“Thanks to this grant, we are able to further our commitment to making music that is kind to the earth, and working to make our policy activated with our musicians, patrons, board and volunteers, sponsors and other partners,” said Michael McLarney, spearheading the Sinfonia Toronto board’s environmental policy and actions.
Now in its 24th season, Sinfonia Toronto has toured in Europe, the US, South America and China; presents interactive school programs and performs in cities across Ontario. It has released four cd’s, including a JUNO winning cd of works by Ontario composer John Burge. The orchestra’s Digital Inclusion Project shares concert livestreams and videos free for residents in 42 long-term care homes in Ontario and students attending non-profit community music schools. The orchestra’s repertoire includes all the major string orchestra works of the 18th through 21st centuries, and it has premiered many new works, especially by Canadian composers.
The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF), an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations celebrates 40 years of grantmaking in Ontario and making a lasting impact in communities. Last year, OTF invested nearly $209M into 2,042 community projects and partnerships, which included funding for the Government of Ontario’s Community Building Fund. Visit otf.ca to learn more.
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Organization Contact for Media Inquiries:
Margaret Chasins, Director of Operations
Sinfonia Toronto
419-499-0403
margaretchasins@sinfoniatoronto.com
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Media release ~ March 29, 2023 ~ for immediate release
SINFONIA TORONTO FEATURES VIOLINIST JULIA MIRZOEV
Toronto, ON - Sinfonia Toronto will feature award-winning violinist Julia Mirzoev at their Tchaikovsky & Mendelssohn concert. The orchestra's performance on Saturday, April 14 will take place in Jean Lamon concert Hall at the Trinity-St.Paul's Centre. German maestro Johannes Rieger will return to conduct a program including Tchaikovsky's 'Album for Youth', Mendelssohn's D Minor Violin Concerto and Canadian composer Karen Sunabacka's 'Born by the River'.
Julia Mirzoev received her Master's degree from the Yale School of Music, where she studied with Ani Kavafian and received the Broadus Erle Prize. She previously completed her Bachelor's at the University of Toronto as a student of Jonathan Crow. Julia has been featured on CBC’s “Top 30 Classical Musicians Under 30”, CBC radio 94.1 and classical 96.3 FM. Her awards include top prizes at the Irving M. Klein International Competition, the OSM competition, and Grand Prize at the Canadian Music Competition. Julia has also performed as a soloist with the Montreal Chamber Music Festival Orchestra, Scarborough Philharmonic, Sinfonia Toronto, Canadian Sinfonietta, University of Toronto Symphony, Orchestra Toronto and the Toronto Symphony. A passionate chamber musician, Julia has been a winner of the Yale Chamber Music Competition and participated in the Sarasota, Manchester, and Toronto festivals and the Perlman Music Program. Her notable collaborations include performances with Roger Tapping, Anthony Marwood, Barry Shiffman, Alexander Kerr, Julie Albers, Philip Chiu, and the New Orford String Quartet. Currently, Julia is pursuing an Artist Diploma at the McGill Schulich School of Music, studying with Andrew Wan, where she is a recipient of the Golden Violin Award.
Maestro Johannes Rieger began his career at the age of fifteen, when he founded the Munich Youth Chamber Ensemble. After completing studies in Munich, Salzburg and Siena he was appointed Kapellmeister (Associate Conductor) of the Ulm Opera in 1991; during his nine years there, he led production of over 30 operas and operettas. In 1995 Maestro Rieger added the post of Music Director of the European Music Project, a chamber orchestra specializing in contemporary music. He has appeared as a guest conductor with Sinfonia Toronto, the Regensburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Jena Philharmonic Orchestra, Milano Classica, New Philharmonic Orchestra of Westphalia, North German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, South West German Philharmonic in Konstanz and the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich. His concerts have been broadcast on Bavarian Radio and Stuttgart Radio, and his recordings are available on both Germany´s Wergo and Italy`s Symposion labels.
Sinfonia Toronto now in its 24th 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. 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 April 14 concert are available at sinfoniatoronto.com.
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Media release ~ March 4, 2023 ~ for immediate release
SINFONIA TORONTO ANNOUNCES 25th ANNIVERSARY SEASON
Toronto, ON - Sinfonia Toronto has just announced its 2023-2024 Silver Anniversary season. The orchestra will celebrate its 25th season with premieres by Canadian and international composers and with the return of many audience favourites - both beloved works and popular guest artists.
Commenting on the new season, the orchestra's music director Nurhan Arman said, "All of us at Sinfonia Toronto are grateful for all the years of support by our loyal audiences in the GTA and throughout Ontario. From our early days onward we have performed for Ontario audiences all over, from Sarnia to Sault Ste-Marie, Barrie to Brockville and many other wonderful communities."
"And we have carried the name of our great city internationally, with tours in Europe, South America, China and the United States, gaining fine reviews and the love of audiences everywhere we have performed. We are proud of our artistic achievements for listeners in our halls, to our recordings, and recently livestreams viewed on multiple continents. We are looking forward not only to the anniversary season but many more seasons to come!"
To celebrate this milestone anniversary Maestro Arman has commissioned Canadian and international composers to write short works celebrating the occasion. Each program next season will include the world premiere of a new work. Participating composers are from Canada, the US, Algeria, Armenia, France, Portugal and Ukraine.
Commenting on the roster of guest artists, Maestro Arman noted, "For next season we have invited back some of the great soloists our orchestra enjoyed making music with who have also been favourites with our audiences. To give just a few examples, we will begin the season with violinist Elisso Gogibedaschwili. This amazing violinist was just 13 years-old when she made her Canadian debut with us. Today she is an international star, performing all over the world with major orchestras and prominent chamber musicians. Toronto pianist Dmitri Levkovich also has appeared with us several times, always with long ovations from our audiences. Our international guest artists are invited with a view to establishing ties with Canadian composers. The great Italian flutist Mario Carbotta has played Canadian composers John Weinzweig and Michael Baker here, then in Europe. Luisa Sello, another superb Italian flutist returning next season, has commissioned Toronto composer Chan Ka Nin to write a piece for her, to premiere here and in Italy."
Sinfonia Toronto President Dr. Edward Thompson adds, "On behalf of all my colleagues on our board, Maestro Arman, our terrific musicians, our wonderful volunteers and all our patrons and partners, I want to congratulate everyone connected with the orchestra, and also to express great appreciations for the orchestra's major supporters through our first 25 years. Core funding from the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council has been crucial, together with occasional project and travel grants. We are also grateful for important project support from several Province of Ontario Ministries, the Ontario Trillium Foundation and Canada through the Community Foundations of Canada Healthy Communities Initiative."
The orchestra will continue serving both downtown Toronto and uptown and the 905 with concerts downtown at the Trinity-St. Paul's Centre and the Jane Mallett Theatre and in North York in George Weston Recital Hall at the Meridian Arts Centre. In addition to the regular concert series Sinfonia Toronto will announce several special events to celebrate the anniversary. Details of the 2023-2024 concerts are posted at sinfoniatoronto.com.
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.
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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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
