(Listen to Jessica Rose)
Last month, Lang Ning Liu journeyed with Maestro Stratton to Prague, where they recorded the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto no. 1. This will be the next release on ACR. Lang Ning made a very strong impression on the musicians of the Radio Orchestra, while Maestro was able to reconnect with old colleagues of many years.
Toronto Concert Orchestra finished our Tchaikovsky tour on Nov 13, with a well received performance at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. Thanks to our tour sponsor Ram Forest. (see more photos…) Photos by Oleg Morgunov and Maria Morgunova.
The highly acclaimed Iranian musical phenomenon Parvaz Homay & Mastan Ensemble return to Roy Thomson Hall stage on Friday December 2nd , 2011 to perform the latest opera “Love, Wisdom & Humanity”. A mixture of traditional Iranian music, with the Toronto Concert Orchestra conducted by Kerry Stratton. For more information please call 416-500-7577, or get tickets online.
“Without a doubt, this is one of the most exciting programs we have ever taken on tour in Ontario. The combination of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor with its passion and fire on the same bill with the exhilarating piano concerto No. 1 (with soloist Lang Ning Liu) is proving irresistible to our audiences”, said Maestro Kerry Stratton of the Toronto Concert Orchestra autumn tour. The program includes the musically picturesque “Sea of Blossoms” by emerging Canadian composer, Kevin Lau.
Get your tickets now, for our Nov 13 performance at the George Weston Recital Hall (Toronto Centre for the Arts, 5040 Yonge Street).
Following my July 2011 recording session of Jean Francaix works, with the Sir George Solti Chamber Orchestra in Budapest, the composer’s son Jacques Francaix wrote me:
“I think your CD will be very useful to make my father’s music more well known and, even for me, I was very surprised when I heard the music of “Die Kamelien” because I discovered that my father used, for it, several piano works of his music.”
Listen to a sample of each of the tracks from this upcoming CD release on Artist’s Choice Recordings; this CD should be available for purchase within the next 3 months.
Toronto Concert Orchestra and the audience enjoyed Beethoven, in the blazing afternoon sun on August 6, at Ontario Place’s Echo Beach. Thanks to event sponsors: Live Nation, Jim and Jane Love, and MPTF. (more photos…)
Toronto Concert Orchestra (TCO) will perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 on Saturday, Aug 6 at 4:00 pm on the Echo Beach Stage at Ontario Place (see TCO press release).
Toronto Concert Orchestra is Toronto’s official “homeless” orchestra. For the 2011-12 season the TCO will hold its rehearsals, as open rehearsals, at the Windsor Arms Hotel. Hear us there on Friday Aug 5. Admission by advance request only via email. Seating is limited and available on a first come first serve basis.
Each summer, WholeNote Magazine invites contributions from the local music community for a feature entitled “On The Road”. Read On the Road: Kerry Stratton.
Next year will be the 100th anniversary of the birth of composer Jean Francaix, who died in 1997. Next month, Kerry will be recording two previously unrecorded works by Jean Francaix, with the Sir George Solti Chamber Orchestra in Budapest. This is very exciting, as Kerry has been in communication for some time with the late composer’s son, who has suggested some truly marvellous scores. The plan is to release these recordings in the Francaix centennial year of 2012.
