PROFILE | Mandle Cheung: The Toronto Tech Entrepreneur Who Bought Himself An Orchestra - A portrait of Mandle Cheung and the 90-member philharmonic orchestra he created to help rekindle his love of classical music.
https://www.ludwig-van.com/toronto/2019/03/20/profile-mandle-cheung-the-toronto-tech-entrepreneur-who-bought-himself-an-orchestra/?fbclid=IwAR2mLEz03VZyUMaaDqAyBFMAFoa3RNsAYSSBiRPcrwSGQ0e6LbYlFpmX4Hs
https://www.ludwig-van.com/toronto/2019/03/20/profile-mandle-cheung-the-toronto-tech-entrepreneur-who-bought-himself-an-orchestra/?fbclid=IwAR2mLEz03VZyUMaaDqAyBFMAFoa3RNsAYSSBiRPcrwSGQ0e6LbYlFpmX4Hs
Mahler & Tchaikovsky
Conductor: Mandle Cheung
Pianist: Kevin Ahfat
Saturday, March 30th, 2019 - 7:00 PM
Toronto Centre for the Arts, George Weston Recital Hall
Ticket Info | Adult $10 | Student and Child rate - 18 and Under $6 | Seniors over 65 - $6
Tickets available at all TO Live Box Offices, online at ticketmaster.ca or by calling 1-855-985-2787
Direct Ticket Link: http://www.tocentre.com/events/mahler-tchaikovsky
Program
Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 1
Intermission
Mahler, Symphony No. 1 'Titan'
Kevin Ahfat, the Canadian-born pianist who is “poised to become one of the young heirs of the classical piano realm” (Vanguard Seattle) makes his Toronto concerto debut with the virtuosic Piano Concerto No.1 by Tchaikovsky, and Mahler’s monumental and gloriously sonorous “Titan” Symphony tops off this grandiose evening of larger-than-life music.
Kevin Ahfat, Pianist
As a pianist that “leaves no question about his riveting presentation and technical finesse” (Seattle Times), Canadian-born pianist Kevin Ahfat is acclaimed to be “poised to become one of the young heirs of the classical piano realm, with a bold, boundary-pushing, millennial style matched by refined execution” (Vanguard Seattle). Possessing “a balanced mix of expressiveness and virtuosity” (Musical America), he “summons plenty of thunderpower in the big moments, but clearly values musicianship over mere showmanship” (American Record Guide). Ahfat was named one of CBC Music’s 30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30 in 2018 and subsequently released a live recording of Brahms from CBC’s Studio 211. Recently, he was awarded the Second Prize, Prize for Best Performance of the Canadian Work, and the Orford Musique Prize at the 79th Orchestre symphonique de Montréal / Manuvie Competition in Montreal.
Highlights of recent seasons include a return to the Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall for its first-ever Shostakovich Concerto Festival, a partnership with Richard Alston & Juilliard Dance and the Juilliard Orchestra in their recreation of Alston’s Sheer Bravado (2006), as well as giving the inaugural masterclass & recital for the Las Vegas Masterclass Series at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. This past season, he was thrilled to give the North American Premiere of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Third Sonata for Cello and Piano (1919), recently published by Bärenreiter-Verlag, with longtime artistic collaborator cellist Juliette Herlin. In anticipation of this premiere, Ahfat filmed & produced a mini-documentary titled Soirée pour Camille, a short film documenting the historical context of the work, the artistic partnership of Ahfat & Herlin, and their joint exploration of French music. This April, they give the Sonata its Midwest Premiere on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago.
Ahfat has had the privilege of sharing the stage with renowned artists across many genres, including JeanYves Thibaudet, So Percussion, David Finckel, Derek Bermel, Joshua Roman, and Joaquin Valdepeñas. This season, he also appears with the ARC Ensemble, Amici Chamber Ensemble, and Art of Time Ensemble throughout North America.
Ahfat completed principal studies at the Juilliard School in New York under the tutelage of Joseph Kalichstein and Stephen Hough, where he also served as a Keyboard Teaching Fellow. Currently, he is one of select 2018-19 concert artists in-residence in the prestigious Rebanks Family Fellowship & International Performance Residency at the Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory in Toronto.
We're thrilled that Soprano Jennifer Taverner has joined us for our upcoming concert, All Awakens with Joy, Nov 9th 8PM, Glenn Gould Studio.
Soprano Jennifer Taverner has been described as "resplendent and captivating" (Ottawa Life) and is in high demand as a soloist with orchestras and opera companies across Canada, in works ranging from baroque to contemporary. As Armida with Pacific Opera Victoria in Handel's Rinaldo , she “brought great menace to the role…innovative in her cadenzas with an incredibly pure tone and brilliant precision”, ( Schmopera). In the starring role of Lily in the premiere of Bandits in the Valley with Tapestry Opera, Glenn Sumi of Now Magazine wrote “Taverner is ravishing as the diva – what a treat to hear her creamy soprano up close”.
This season, Jennifer looks forward to her debut as a soloist with Victoria Symphony in Handel’s Messiah and in 2019 returns to Pacific Opera Victoria as Manja in Countess Maritza, as well as Beethoven’s Mass in C with Bach-Elgar Choir.
Recent engagements include Vivier’s Kopernikus with Against the Grain Theatre at Banff Centre for the Arts, Adele in Die Fledermaus (Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony), Kathie in The Student Prince (Toronto Operetta Theatre), and concert engagements including Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (Niagara Symphony) and Vivaldi motets with Thirteen Strings Orchestra and Bach’s Mass in B Minor (Toronto Mendelssohn Choir).
Other career highlights include Brian Current’s Airline Icarus (Soundstreams Canada), Rose in Street Scene (Voicebox: Opera in Concert), and Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte (Jeunesses Musicales). Jennifer was awarded the Lyndon Woodside Encouragement Award in the 2016 New York Oratorio Society Competition.
Soprano Jennifer Taverner has been described as "resplendent and captivating" (Ottawa Life) and is in high demand as a soloist with orchestras and opera companies across Canada, in works ranging from baroque to contemporary. As Armida with Pacific Opera Victoria in Handel's Rinaldo , she “brought great menace to the role…innovative in her cadenzas with an incredibly pure tone and brilliant precision”, ( Schmopera). In the starring role of Lily in the premiere of Bandits in the Valley with Tapestry Opera, Glenn Sumi of Now Magazine wrote “Taverner is ravishing as the diva – what a treat to hear her creamy soprano up close”.
This season, Jennifer looks forward to her debut as a soloist with Victoria Symphony in Handel’s Messiah and in 2019 returns to Pacific Opera Victoria as Manja in Countess Maritza, as well as Beethoven’s Mass in C with Bach-Elgar Choir.
Recent engagements include Vivier’s Kopernikus with Against the Grain Theatre at Banff Centre for the Arts, Adele in Die Fledermaus (Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony), Kathie in The Student Prince (Toronto Operetta Theatre), and concert engagements including Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (Niagara Symphony) and Vivaldi motets with Thirteen Strings Orchestra and Bach’s Mass in B Minor (Toronto Mendelssohn Choir).
Other career highlights include Brian Current’s Airline Icarus (Soundstreams Canada), Rose in Street Scene (Voicebox: Opera in Concert), and Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte (Jeunesses Musicales). Jennifer was awarded the Lyndon Woodside Encouragement Award in the 2016 New York Oratorio Society Competition.
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The Wholenote Magazine November Issue https://kiosk.thewholenote.com/
We are so excited to have Kerry Stratton as the host of our launching concert on Nov 9th, 8PM, Glenn Gould Studio.