Celebration of Small Ensembles - 3 Concert Pass

Celebration of Small Ensembles - April 6, May 4, and June 1 / 4:00pm

Music Toronto invites you to the Celebration of Small Ensembles – ancient, classic and 21st century music boldly curated and performed by small ensembles. A new space for social gathering and musical discovery. All curious listeners are welcome.

Celebration of Small Ensembles events will take place in the afternoon on Saturday April 6th, May 4th, and June 1st. Please note that this page is for a 3 Concert Pass to ALL COSE events.

Program Details

April 6th, 2024

4:00pm
Starry Night

SHHH!! Ensemble

Edana Higham, piano
Zac Pulak, percussion

Starry Night flows through a dreamscape of beautiful and unexpected sounds. The music of Starry Night reflects on the night sky, evoking a sense of wonder at the vastness of space, distilling celestial motion into human scale, and exploring how dreams help process emotions, memories, and even our own self conception.

Concert Programme

Jocelyn Morlock - Spirit Gradient * (2020)
Monica Pearce - rem * (2023)
Georges Aperghis - Retrouvailles, movement 2 & 3 (2013)
Paolo Griffin - Resonant Bodies in Space * (2023)
Harry Stafylakis - Light Symbolic: i. the quiet violence of celestial motion; ii. death of a sun, act of creation * (2023)

* written for SHHH!!

5:00pm
AIRE Y TIERRA
Obsidiana Duo

Camilla Montefusco, mezzo-soprano
Yolanda Tapia, piano

AIRE Y TIERRA is a musical tribute to the stories of our ancestors and the never-ending search for belonging. Through a collection of Canadian and Ibero-American music, the Obsidiana Duo takes their audiences on a journey inspired by the stories of their grandmothers and their own immigrant journey in Canada.

Concert Programme

SOARING
Alice Ho - Circular Sky
Alice Ho - Cyclone
Ian Cusson - Birdsong

COLONIZATION
X. Montsalvatge - Cuba dentro de un piano
X. Montsalvatge - Canto Negro

STRENGTH
X. Montsalvatge - O Kinimba
A. Ginastera - Triste

HOPE
A. Ginastera - Arrullo/Arrorro
X. Montsalvatge - Canción de cuna para dormier a un negrito

FREEDOM
A. Ginastera - Chacarera/Gato

May 4th, 2024

4:00pm
From Home and Away

Gentileschi Baroque

Cristina Prats-Costa, violin
Julia Wedman, violin
Michael Unterman, violoncello
Charlotte Nediger, harpsichord

A program exploring the music of baroque homebodies and travellers. Composers Isabella Leonarda, Barbara Strozzi and Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre all created incredible music close to home. Antonio Caldara and Maddalena Laura Lombardini Sirmen began their careers in Strozzi’s hometown of Venice and travelled throughout Europe. Caldara spent time in Barcelona and Vienna, and Sirmen toured all over Europe, from London to Amsterdam, and from St Petersburg to Jaquet de la Guerre’s hometown of Paris.

Concert Programme

Antonio Caldara (1670-1736) - Trio Sonata in E minor, Op.1 No. 5
Grave - Vivace - Grave - Vivace. Adagio
Maddalena Laura Lombardini Sirmen (1745-1818) - Duetto for Two Violins in C major, Op. 5 No. 6
Allegro - Allegro Brillante
Isabella Leonarda (1620-1704) - Sonata terza, op 16
Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677) - “Mentita” arranged for 2 violins, Op. 3 No. 8
Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1665-1729) - Trio Sonata in D major
Grave, vivace e presto - Allegro - Allegro - Aria Affetuoso - Allegro

5:00pm
Transformations
Rilian Trio

Daniel Dastoor, violin
David Liam Roberts, cello
Godwin Friesen, piano

"You have made a child of me," says the man in Richard Dehmel's poem "Transfigured Night" — "You have brought the shine into me." Another poet many centuries earlier had a similar experience: "I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother is my soul within me.” Both texts have been set to music. Each piece wordlessly evokes a transformation from carrying the weight of the world to the radiant contentment of childlikeness.

Concert Programme

Godwin Friesen - Psalm 131 for Piano Trio (2024, world premiere)
I - My heart is not proud
II - Matters too lofty for me
III - Like a weaned child
IV - Put your hope in the Lord

Schoenberg (arr. Steuermann 1899) - Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night)

June 1st, 2024

4:00pm
Sweet 16: Pop Music of the 1820s
Canadian Chamber Orchestra

Aaron Schwebel, Luri Lee, Sheila Jaffé, Byungchan Lee, violins
Hezekiah Leung, Ryan Davis, violas
Andrew Ascenzo, Drew Comstock, cellos

Mendelssohn was only 16 years old when he wrote one of his most famous works, the string octet in Eb major for double string quartet in the year 1825. No doubt, this young prodigious composer was being influenced by the great composers and music being performed throughout Europe, and one such piece that he may have crossed paths with is Schubert's famous String Quartet No. 14 "Death and the Maiden," which was written just one year prior and used themes from songs he had written previously. Schubert was a prolific melodist and song-writer and his influence carries into modern-times, and was the inspiration for Dinuk Wijeratne's "A Letter from the After-life" from his Two Pop Songs on Antique Poems, written in 2015.

Concert Programme

Dinuk Wijeratne - "A Letter From The After-life" from Two Pop Songs on Antique Poems (2015)
Felix Mendelssoh - String Octet in Eb Major, Op. 20

5:00pm
The Walls Are Made of Song
Ladom Ensemble

Pouya Hamidi, piano
Michael Bridge, accordion
Beth Silver, cello
Adam Campbell, percussion

Creating a new musical identity, Ladom Ensemble draws from Balkan, Persian, South American, Turkish and European influences and blends it all in a unique instrumentation that is passionate, sophisticated, & wild. Their original repertoire and arrangements have hints of folksongs, classical, Latin, and a little progressive rock. Ladom doesn’t pretend to represent any specific tradition, but rather expresses an authentic artistic fusion. Ladom Ensemble reflects the beautiful new Western world!

Concert Programme

Pouya Hamidi - Distance
Traditional - East Coast Medley
Béla Bartók - Romanian Folk Dances
Traditional - Hora
Radiohead - Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
Traditional - Gole Pamchal
A. Piazzolla - Libertango

Performer Biographies

SHHH!! Ensemble

“SHHH!!… a powerful utterance designed to draw attention forward… creating space and awareness… opening ears to something important.”

Percussionist Zac Pulak and pianist Edana Higham are the two members of SHHH!! Ensemble, a duo carving a space for themselves as compelling performers of electrifying new music. A keen taste for experimentation and discovery has guided their “avant-accessible” approach—where new music is as accessible as it is groundbreaking.

Known for their “truly virtuosic and intense” (Confluence Concerts) performances, SHHH!! has toured broadly across Canada, performing new works written for them by both leading and emerging composers, including Jocelyn Morlock, Kelly-Marie Murphy, John Beckwith, Monica Pearce, Harry Stafylakis, and Mari Alice Conrad.

In 2023, SHHH!! “enthralled” (Winnipeg Free Press) audiences in the world premiere of Kelly-Marie Murphy’s double concerto Machines, Mannequins, and Monsters with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, followed by recital appearances at the SMCQ’s Montreal New Music Festival, New Works Calgary, Ottawa Chamberfest, GroundSwell, and many others. Their debut album Meanwhile (2022, Analekta) released to critical acclaim including an ECMA nomination for Classical Recording of the Year. La Scena Musicale gave SHHH!!’s 2023 sophomore album An Auditory Survey of the Last Days of the Holocene a 5 star rating, calling it a “masterpiece”.

Obsidiana Duo

Pianist Yolanda Tapia and singer Camila Montefusco co-founded the Obsidiana Duo with a clear mission: to celebrate the vibrant tapestry of Ibero-American musical culture and give voice to composers who have been historically overlooked.

The duo has a reputation as an international prize-winning collaborative pair, having been featured at CollabFest and Collabaret 2020, and the International Keyboard Collaborative Arts Society in 2021. Recent achievements include First Prize at the Puerto Rico Collaborative Piano Competition, a fellowship with the Toronto Summer Music Festival and an artistic residency at the Banff Centre.

This season marked their first tour with Prairie Debut and the premiere of ‘Circular Sky’, a new song written for the Obsidiana Duo by composer Alice Ho and writer Madeleine Thien. This collaboration inspired “Homebound”, a new segment of their program which explores themes of immigration and belonging. In the 24/25 season they look forward to touring their most recent curation with Debut Atlantic.

Camila and Yolanda call Toronto home, where they explore meaningful routes of their personal artistic ventures. Creating sincere and purposeful connections with their audiences is what drives them forward.

https://www.camilamontefusco.com/obsidianaduo

Cristina Prats-Costa

Described in The Strad magazine as a “quartet leader playing with uncommon sensitivity”, Spanish violinist Cristina Prats-Costa is a vibrant musician honoured to have been elected Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM), London, in 2019. She has performed with Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century (Amsterdam), Holland Baroque, Finnish Baroque, Brecon Baroque, The English Concert, Arcangelo Ensemble (London), L’Harmonie des Saisons (Montreal), Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Toronto Bach Festival (Toronto). Cristina is currently finishing a Master of Music in Historical Performance at The Juilliard School in NY, is a New Ensemblist with Arcangelo Ensemble (London) and is giving her Wigmore Hall debut in July. She previously studied at The Royal Academy of Music, The Guildhall and The Hague Conservatory. Co-founder and first violin of the Alauda Quartet, recorded the complete string quartets by Roffredo Caetani. Cristina is first prize and public prize winner at the International Chamber Music Competition “Massimiliano Antonelli” in Italy and at the Orlando International Competition.

Julia Wedman

Violinist Julia Wedman (juliawedman.com) grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and has been a member of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in 2005. She quickly developed a reputation for her solo performances with the group, and in addition to being featured regularly on the group’s home series in Toronto, Julia has performed solos on tours in Canada, the US, Germany, France, Mexico, Puerto Rico, China, Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. She was a long-time member of I FURIOSI and is currently in the Eybler String Quartet. She is the concertmaster of L’Harmonie des Saisons (Montreal) and was recently named Principal Baroque Leader of Symphony Nova Scotia. Her new album of the Solo Sonatas and Partitas of J.S. Bach was released in November, 2023.

Michael Unterman

Michael Unterman, a cellist born and raised in Vancouver, BC, is a recent addition to Tafelmusik’s roster, joining the orchestra in January of 2023. He is also a core member of the string chamber orchestra A Far Cry and serves as principal cellist of Boston Baroque, earning Grammy nominations with both groups in 2019. Of late he has performed and recorded with ensembles including Arion Baroque Orchestra, the Cramer Quartet, Ensemble Caprice, the Knights, Ruckus, and the Thirteen, and has enjoyed past stints as a member of the Portland Baroque Orchestra and as Artistic Director of Five Boroughs Music Festival, where he worked to present chamber music in venues across New York City.

Charlotte Nediger

As a performer, Charlotte Nediger’s first love is playing continuo in an orchestral and/or choral setting, something she’s been delighted to do with Tafelmusik since joining the orchestra in 1980 at age 21. She also works being the scenes as Assistant to the Artistic Directors, Librarian, and Program Editor, and oversees Tafelmusik’s Artist Training programs, notably as Artistic Coordinator of the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute. A native of southwestern Ontario, Charlotte holds Bachelor and Master degrees from Western University in London and a Solo Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague in the Netherlands. She teaches at the University of Toronto.

Rilian Trio

Brought together by their shared passion for chamber music and musical narrative, the Rilian Trio is composed of three of Canada’s leading young musicians—pianist Godwin Friesen, violinist Daniel Dastoor, and cellist David Liam Roberts—who joined forces in 2021 at the Glenn Gould School (GGS) of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. In September 2023, they were awarded the first prize, the audience prize, and the prize for the best interpretation of the commissioned piece at the 12th Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition.

Upcoming engagements include debuts in Oslo and Trømsø, Norway; Waterloo, Belgium; and Niagara, Canada. The 2024-25 season will also see the trio return to Trondheim as festival artists at the Trondheim Kammermusikkfestival.

Canadian Chamber Orchestra

Founded in 2023 by cellists and co-artistic directors Andrew Ascenzo and Drew Comstock, the Canadian Chamber Orchestra is a new and dynamic self-conducted orchestra that seeks to ignite a passion for music using the power of an orchestra with the intimacy and versatility of a small chamber ensemble. The musicians of the CCO are some of the most in-demand performers and include members of Canada’s top orchestras and chamber ensembles, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Canadian Opera Company, National Ballet, and more. They are at home performing classical music on the world’s largest stages or playing folk music in a living room house party. CCO concerts have something for everyone, and you are sure to discover something new every time you are part of the experience.

Ladom Ensemble

The eclectic cultural richness of Ladom Ensemble’s music is a reflection of Canada’s cultural diversity. Like the vibrant colours of a beautifully woven Persian carpet, the intricacies of an Iranian stone mosaic, Ladom’s sound is drawn from the old and brought into a contemporary presentation. Like the traditions of music from that region, Ladom also relies on the equal balance of both structure and improvisation.

Ladom Ensemble creates a sound that represents one of the oldest cultures in the world, one can hear influences drawn from the Balkan, Celtic, Iran, Argentina, and Europe. The elasticity of styles is the musical foundation of these four musicians and their vast experiences create a new sound and experience that will be appeal to all audiences.

The musicians met in Toronto and quickly realized that they shared a passion to create a sound that draws from their unique musical experiences. A sound that would incorporate inspirations from classical tango, Celtic music, Serbian folk dance, Persian classical dulcimer, amongst others. Ladom was formed, not to define one specific tradition, but rather, to express what a modern and authentic Canadian sound experience, that reflects a beautiful new world. As critic Michael Vincent of musicaltoronto.org wrote, “Toronto’s Ladom Ensemble is not your typical chamber group. In many ways, they represent a changing definition of chamber music which sees musicians increasingly looking away from a purely Eurocentric purview…They can play pretty much anything.”

Consisting of founding member Pouya Hamidi on piano, accordionist Michael Bridge, cellist Beth Silver, and Adam Campbell on percussion, Ladom Ensemble has completed three tours by Jeunesses Musicales Canada (September 2017 and April 2019), Debut Atlantic (April 2018) and Prairie Debut (January-February 2019). In Summer 2019, the Aga Khan Museum presented Ladom’s first multi-disciplinary work, a musical storybook based on Rumi’s Fables. That same summer saw the premiere of four new compositions, commissioned by the Iranian-Canadian Composers of Toronto collective. Earlier that year, they released their second full length album, The Walls Are Made of Song. More tours are scheduled, as Ladom continues to spiral upward and outward into the Canadian music scene.

From the stage, the concert transcends styles and the diverse qualities that each musician brings to the ensemble results in an unconventional experience for listeners. Whether it is Michael mixing up words in Farsi and Serbian, or Adam’s Anglophone accent which endears him to francophone audiences, the concert experience from Ladom’s concerts are best said by CBC Radio’s Errol Nazareth – “This is the first time I have heard such a fascinating mix and it really works well. The music can be very elegant and contemplative and it can also be rocking and fiery and there is no denying of the passion of the four musicians investing in their playing.”