httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcHnL7aS64Y
JUST ANNOUNCED
The full line-up has now been announced for the annual New Year’s Eve Comedy Extravaganza at Massey Hall. Hosted by Geri Hall, well-loved for her role on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and starring Jon Dore, who just had the honour of being the very first stand-up performer on Conan O’Brien’s new show. The event also features funny folk Eddie Della Siepe, Kathleen McGee, Mike Nemiroff, Cedric Newman, Bryan O’Gorman, Derek Seguin, and Tim Steeves with music provided by Bonzai Suzuki.
PERFORMANCES
Elmer Iseler Singers, A Seasonal Celebration (Tuesday – FREE!): As part of our Free Choir & Organ Concert Series, Elmer Iseler Singers take to the stage at Roy Thomson Hall. The Toronto-based 20-voice chamber choir was founded by the late Elmer Iseler in 1979 and they’ve been going strong ever since with over 50 recordings and a long list of accolades.
BOWFIRE Holiday Heart Strings (Friday): BOWFIRE celebrated its tenth birthday this summer and now they are celebrating the holiday season with their signature flare. Check out the recent post by Lenny Solomon about putting together the album that BOWFIRE has just released – Holiday Heart Strings and get ready for the festive season by checking out this concert featuring fiddlers, violinists, and step-dancers performing your favourite holiday tunes – everything from Sleigh Ride to Dreydl, Dreydl, Dredyl.
Toronto Children’s Chorus Sounds of the Season (Saturday): We’ve heard the annual holiday concert by the Toronto Children’s Chorus called “the nicest way to start off the holiday season,” and it’s no wonder why! The concert is delightfully heart-warming and will melt away any of your winter woes.
WEB WATCH
Remember our Crash Course on Musicology? In an October issue of The Buzz, we noted that John Cage’s 4’33” might well be a contender for the Christmas No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart and now it seems even more possible. The Globe and Mail (along with just about everyone else) is reporting that 40 musicians got together to record this intriguing work – calling it, get this, Cage Against the Machine (brilliant, right?) – to benefit four charities and attempt to take No. 1 on the Charts. The Official Blog of the John Cage Trust has a fantastic review of the whole UK Christmas No. 1 phenomenon and details on this new recording and, of course, iTunes has it available for downloading. Check out John Cage himself in the above embedded video discussing the exciting sounds of silence.
