Music Convocation Flash Mob

The Honourable David R. Peterson, the outgoing Chancellor of the University of Toronto resided over his final Convocation last week.  He was taken by surprise when the students graduating from the Faculty of Music surprised him with a flash mob tribute to the tune "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and moved him to tears....the power of music never fails to bring awe and wonder to out lives!

Music as Medicine: Why we might do what we do!

Music as prescription:  Professor Lee Bartel of University of Toronto explains "Music as Medicine".  UofT will launch a Music and Health Research Centre next year which will be the first of its kind in Canada.

Coming soon....

Eating Crow by Lila Cheekytree

Happy New Year .... a few days late!

I have just returned from a two week vacation with my family and am ready to get back to teaching at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music!  Of course, anytime I return from vacation, the inbox is full which is good news for you...look out for a bunch of new audition listings, competitions etc. BUT before all that, I will be launching my new website and blog shortly...stay tuned for more!

For those of you wondering, the image on the left is called "Eating Crow"and was created by Toronto artist Lila Cheekytree.  This image is the foundation of the colours and style of my new site and I am so grateful to Lila for allowing me to use her work!

Wishing you all the best for a well supported, in-tune, completely present 2012!

Elizabeth 

T.O.S.C.A. at UofT Opera School

Caught you!  You thought the UofT Opera School was performing Puccini's Tosca this week...in fact, they are doing a night of Poulenc: La Voix Humaine & Les Mamelles de Tirésias.  


Check out the details below:


From the melodic pen of Francis Poulenc come two one-act works of stunning theatrical contrast. La Voix Humaine [The Human Voice] portrays the heart wrenching grief of a woman’s final farewell to her lover while Les Mamelles de Tirésias [The Breasts of Tirésias] brilliantly satirizes feminism, fertility drugs and “family values”.
Sandra Horst conductor
Michael Patrick Albano & Erik Thor directors

Thursday, Friday, Saturday | December 1, 2 & 3, 2011 | 7:30 pm
Sunday | December 4, 2011 | 2:30 pmMacMillan Theatre | $30 ($20*) | FlexiMIX: $24

The TOSCA I mentioned are the ARIA awards that will be presented on Monday, December 5, 2011.

ARIAS: Canadian Opera Student Development Fund

invites you to join us at our annual fundraising event,

The Opera Scholarship Celebration Awards  -  T.O.S.C.A. 2011

Monday, December 5, 2011

Walter Hall at the Edward Johnson Building

Faculty of Music, University of Toronto

80 Queens Park Crescent

Gala Cocktail reception at 6:00 p.m. - Library Atrium, Ground Floor

Concert at 7:30 p.m. - Walter Hall

Join us as ARIAS recognizes and celebrates the excellence of the vocalists of

the Opera Division of the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto.

This festive evening will begin with a fundraising cocktail reception, followed by

a concert of vocal performances from scholarship recipients past and present.

T.O.S.C.A. 2011 will conclude with the presentation of this year's

ARIAS Scholarships to the 2011 Opera Division recipients.

Gala Cocktail Reception and Concert: $125.00

 

For tickets, please contact ARIAS at 416.863.0364

 

Concert Only:  Adults - $35.00, Students - $15.00

More good news for Canadian Opera

This came out last week but in light of the BAD news this week about Opera Lyra in Ottawa, this might show us a light at the end of the tunnel...I have heard a number of these singers at the UofT Faculty of Music and can guarantee this will be a night of fabulous talent and potential!

FINALISTS FROM ACROSS CANADA COME TO TORONTO FOR INAUGURAL COC ENSEMBLE STUDIO COMPETITION

Toronto – Following auditions in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and New York City attended by Canadian Opera Company administrators, 10 out of a pool of over 160 young, aspiring opera singers have been selected to compete in the final auditions at the inaugural COC Ensemble Studio Competition.  For the first time in the history of the COC, the final auditions for singers seeking to join the Ensemble Studio training program will be made public as a vocal competition.  In addition to an offer of a coveted position in the 2012/2013 Ensemble Studio, the singers will be competing for one of four cash prizes.  A limited number of tickets priced at $30 are now on sale for the COC Ensemble Studio Competition, which takes place on Nov. 28, 2011 at 5:30 p.m. in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

Ten finalists will perform in front of an audience and a panel of judges, comprised of COC General Director Alexander Neef, Music Administrator Sandra Gavinchuk, Head of the Ensemble Studio Liz Upchurch,
Opera Canada editor Wayne Gooding, and Canadian soprano, opera coach, and Ensemble Studio alumna Wendy Nielsen.  Over the course of the two-hour competition, each finalist will perform two arias showcasing their vocal technique and range.  The judging panel will deliberate on location and announce the competition winners at the conclusion of the evening’s event.

Select finalists will be invited to join the 12/13 Ensemble Studio, with the number of offers to be determined by the judging panel.  First, second and third prizes, worth $5,000, $3,000, and $1,500, respectively, will be awarded, in addition to a People’s Choice Award, selected by audience vote, worth $1,500.

The Ensemble Studio Competition highlights the finest young talent from across the country.  Winning a place in what is Canada’s premier training program for opera professionals can be these singers’ first step towards an international opera career. The audience at the vocal competition will be hearing the singers selected to follow in the footsteps of such renowned Ensemble Studio graduates as Ben Heppner, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Joseph Kaiser, and John Fanning, among many others.

The finalists are:

·         Lindsay Barrett (Sudbury, ON)

·         Claire de Sevigne (Montreal, QC)

·         Sasha Djihanian (Montreal, QC)

·         Rachel Fenlon (Victoria, BC)

·         Aviva Fortunata Wilks (Calgary, AB)

·         David Gibbons (Red Deer, AB)

·         Danielle MacMillan (Toronto, ON)

·         Owen McCausland (Saint John, NB)

·         Laura McLean (New Glasgow, NS)

·         Cameron McPhail (Brandon, MB)

“The quantity and quality of young opera talent in Canada is staggering, and the finalists in this year’s competition are truly some of the best emerging artists from across the country,” says COC General Director Alexander Neef, “The members of the Ensemble Studio are the opera stars of tomorrow and, through the COC Ensemble Studio Competition, the public is given the exciting opportunity to be a part of these singers’ professional journeys from the very beginning.” 

Tickets are $30 and are available for purchase online at coc.ca, by calling COC Ticket Services at 416-363-8231, or in person at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts Box Office, located at 145 Queen St. W., Monday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Making the Cut: University of Toronto

Dr. Darryl Edwards from the University of Toronto was on hand to discuss the Uof T program. Here are the points of interest as presented:

1. The Faculty of Music provides a diverse program second to none in this country.


2. There are courses dedicated to Italian song (1st and 2nd year), Oratorio (3rd and 4th year), French Melodie (3rd and 4th year), Lieder (2nd, 3rd, and 4th year) and Piano Vocal collaborative issues.


3. There are over 30 recitals open to student participation


4. The opera school produces 4 shows per year with this year seeing Haydn's World on the the Moon in the fall and Bernstein's Candide in the spring wit small productions of Carmen and Eugene Onegin.


5. There are 8-10 performance classes per year in addition to studio classes


6. The Faculty has been around for a long time so they have continued to renew, inspect and upgrade the program.


7. The Faculty if close to the Canadian Opera Company and the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre


8. UofT boasts wonderful teachers who are also great artists.


9. The level of graduates from UofT who are performing on the world's stages speaks volumes for the program!