NEW SHOWS RECENTLY ANNOUNCED
We keep adding all sorts of good stuff to your calendars! Today we announced that Women Fully Clothed will perform their latest sketch show, Older & Hotter, at Massey Hall on Friday, May 7, 2010 (which happens to be the Friday before Mother’s Day). These four fantastic ladies – Kathryn Greenwood (Whose Line Is It Anyway, This Hour Has 22 Minutes), Robin Duke (Saturday Night Live), Jayne Eastwood (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Chicago), and Teresa Pavlinek (History Bites, The Jane Show) – have been called “the funniest women in Canada” by the likes of Eugene Levy.
Jimmy Cliff
The reggae legend Jimmy Cliff, comes to Toronto’s Massey Hall on July 19. The Harder They Come star is also set to be the 2nd reggae artist (after Bob Marley) to ever be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Wyclef Jean will do the honours next week (March 15) at a ceremony in New York City. Tickets for the July 19 Massey Hall show go on sale to the public this Saturday at noon. Continue reading
Posted by Stefania Paterak in The Buzz on March 9, 2010
a-ha,elizabeth Shepperd,Jamie Cullum,jimmy Cliff,Massey Hall,Nathan Gunn,Roy Thomson Hall,trailer Park Boys,Valery Gergiev,women Fully Clothed
In the lower level of Massey Hall you’ll find ‘Centuries,’ a fully-stocked bar you can visit pre-show and at intermission of most performances. The room is filled with artefacts illustrating the admirable history of Massey Hall, perhaps most notably the “Decade Panels” that line the entrance corridor to ‘Centuries.’ Starting with 1894-1904, a panel is present for each decade since Massey Hall opened. The panels feature news articles, photographs, programmes and other paraphernalia that aim to give a slice of life at Massey Hall from that period in history. In this column, we look at each decade and highlight some of the items included in these panels. Of course, for a more in-depth look, next time you’re at Massey for a show, head on over to ‘Centuries’ and check them out. This week, we take a look at 1954 – 1963, the seventh in a series of eleven tributes to Massey Halls glorious history.
Massey Hall 1954 – 1963
It would appear, from this decade panel, that there was quite a variety of musical genres to choose from at Massey Hall during the late 50s and early 60s. Classical music still had its home at Massey Hall: The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir continued to perform here as did the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, for whom a free Sunday concert is advertised with guests The Buffalo Bills Barbershop Quartet.
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Posted by Soundboard in The Scene on March 8, 2010
Count Basie,Glenn Gould,Mary Martin,Massey Hall,The Weavers,TSO
Julie Gunn & Nathan Gunn
By Julie Gunn
Nathan and I were raised on art song recitals by our teacher John Wustman, who was of a generation that sang many of them and who taught us about Schubert and Wolf and other songwriting giants. So it’s something we’ve always done since we met in college. Now, 20 years later, we love them for other reasons, too. We love the chance to be together away from all the loving craziness that happens in a house with 5 kids, 2 grandparents, a dog and a bird; we love the relationships that we make with the audience members who love songs like we do and we love the freedom and independence that comes with the small scale of the recital, where we can just be us. This is our first Canadian recital, and first time to Toronto! Our one connection is our student, Melissa Davis, from Toronto, who is a wonderful song singer. If everyone in Toronto is like Melissa, this should be an electric experience 
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Posted by Julie Gunn in The Shows on March 8, 2010
We are thrilled to pass along this free download (just right-click on this link and save) of “2nd Bounce“ from Brooklyn Rider’s latest album, Dominant Curve. The acclaimed Brooklyn-based string quartet perform live at Toronto’s Glenn Gould Studio this coming Tuesday, March 2 at 8 PM. Tickets are available at Roy Thomson Hall box office, online or at Glenn Gould Studio on March 2.
True boundary pushers, the members (also members of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble), perform a mix of classical, contemporary and original works that are at times aggressive, experimental and inspired. In addition to their collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma, they have worked with Philip Glass, Dimitry Yanov-Yanovsky among numerous others. True boundary pushers, they are quickly engaging a young (indie) audience to the classical genre. Here is how Jack Rabid from The Big Takeover recently described their music – “It’s grabbing, cunningly confrontational chamber music like a horror movie tragedy score. Its tones evoke danger, pity, fear, and empathy, the violins, viola, and cello sharp as knives twisting and slithering like snakes, or plucking furtively like burglars sneaking past a sleeping dog.”
They also performed a Tiny Desk Concert at NPR, check it out here to get a glimpse into what their live performance is like.
Tell us what you think!
Posted by Soundboard in The Shows on February 27, 2010
Brooklyn Rider,Download,NPR
In the lower level of Massey Hall you’ll find ‘Centuries,’ a fully-stocked bar you can visit pre-show and at intermission of most performances. The room is filled with artefacts illustrating the admirable history of Massey Hall, perhaps most notably the “Decade Panels” that line the entrance corridor to ‘Centuries.’ Starting with 1894-1904, a panel is present for each decade since Massey Hall opened. The panels feature news articles, photographs, programmes and other paraphernalia that aim to give a slice of life at Massey Hall from that period in history. In this column, we look at each decade and highlight some of the items included in these panels. Of course, for a more in-depth look, next time you’re at Massey for a show, head on over to ‘Centuries’ and check them out. This week, we take a look at 1934 – 1943, the fifth in a series of eleven tributes to Massey Halls glorious history. Continue reading
Posted by Stefania Paterak in The Scene on February 26, 2010
Centuries,George Gershwin,Grey Owl,Massey Hall
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
PERFORMANCES THIS WEEK
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (Wednesday): Last weekend, on Valentine’s Day, Robert Everett-Green wrote an article in the Globe and Mail entitled “Love at first downbeat” about one Yannick Nézet-Séguin of Montreal, the now celebrity conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic. Nézet-Séguin recently made headlines for his debut at the Met conducting Carmen. Here’s your chance to see him, his new orchestra, and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet at home in Canada on the stage of Roy Thomson Hall. The Toronto Star says it “is likely to be one of the most exciting symphony concerts of the season,” and with good reason. Continue reading
Posted by Stefania Paterak in The Buzz on February 23, 2010
C. R. Avery,John Hiatt,Levon Helm,Massey Hall,Rotterdam Philarmonic Orchestra
Backstage at The Today Show with Jo Lawry, Lisa Fischer and Liali BIali, Sting Promo Tour in 2009
After two years of intermittently touring with New York based artists Paula Cole and Suzanne Vega, I figured an official move to NYC was imminent. In 2008, I was issued a study grant by the Canada Council for the Arts that finally brought me here, leading to what I now like to call my own “Tale of Two Cities” – Toronto and NYC.
After about a year of toughing it out in the Big City, I figured it might be time to resume full-time life and work back in Toronto. Then Sting called. Well, okay, it wasn’t actually Sting who called, it was one of his singers, Lisa Fischer, and later his producer, Robert Sadin. With a day’s notice, I was asked to show up at the famous midtown Clinton Studios, (where Ol’ Blue Eyes (Sinatra) once recorded many moons ago), to audition for a spot on Sting’s next DVD release, “A Winter’s Night: Live from Durham Cathedral.” After a few sessions with various other hopeful crooners, I got the email:
The first line read, “Sting would like to invite you to participate…” I didn’t even finish reading the first line before literally leaping off my stool and dancing around my tiny Brooklyn apartment, screaming with delight and near hysteria. Clichés aside, this was a dream come true.
Continue reading
Posted by Soundboard in The Shows on February 22, 2010
Glenn Gould Studio,Laila Biali,Sting
In the lower level of Massey Hall you’ll find Centuries, a fully-stocked bar you can visit pre-show and at intermission of most performances. The room is filled with artefacts illustrating the admirable history of Massey Hall, perhaps most notably the “Decade Panels” that line the entrance corridor to Centuries. Starting with 1894-1904, a panel is present for each decade since Massey Hall opened. The panels feature news articles, photographs, programmes and other paraphernalia that aim to give a slice of life at Massey Hall from that period in history. In this column, we look at each decade and highlight some of the items included in these panels. Of course, for a more in-depth look, next time you’re at Massey for a show, head on over to Centuries and check them out. This week, we take a look at 1924 – 1933, the fourth in a series of eleven tributes to Massey Halls glorious history. Continue reading
Posted by Stefania Paterak in The Buzz on February 18, 2010
Bertrand Russell,Centuries,Massey Hall,Simpson's,Typewriting
C. R. Avery
I wish I could sit each of you down, individually, right here in my kitchen, and tell you about C.R. Avery… over coffee. If we could relax here at my kitchen table for five minutes, I’d tell you just enough. Just enough that when you got up to go on with your day, there’d be no chance of you missing his show at Glenn Gould Studio on Thursday, February 25.
I travel for a living, and I see a lot of acts in my travels. Last year I played 140 shows in three countries and nine provinces. And it’s only roughly every two or three years that I discover an artist who transforms my whole landscape and changes every rule. Who makes everything possible again. I first saw C.R. Avery in Ottawa at the end of 2008– with the very band he’s bringing to Glenn Gould Studio on February 25. And I haven’t been the same since. Continue reading
Posted by Corin Raymond in The Shows on February 11, 2010
C. R. Avery,Corin Raymond,Tom Waits
