JOAQUIN VALDEPEÑAS
DAVID HETHERINGTON
SEROUJ KRADJIAN
AMICIENSEMBLE.COM
Message From
the Artistic Directors
In this, our 29th season, Amici Chamber Ensemble remains as true to
our roots as in our first season in Toronto. Our passion for performing
outstanding chamber music works with our friends, our Amici, is as always
at the heart of our programming. This season we welcome old friends and
new, all counted among the world’s best chamber musicians.
We open in October with Strauss vs. Strauss, an exploration of songs
and chamber works by two great Strausses, Johann Strauss and Richard
Strauss, featuring Canada’s foremost baritone Russell Braun and violin
virtuoso Jonathan Crow.
Feeling rebellious? Join us in November for Mother Russia, a unique
program featuring music from several generations of Russian rebels and
exiles. Amici is joined by fabulous Russian musicians, violinist Ilya Kaler and
accordionist Alexander Sevastian.
Our Annual Gala concert in December supporting our upcoming 30th
anniversary season is a celebration of cabaret music. One of our favourite
Amici, wonderful Canadian soprano Mireille Asselin, joins us at our fundraiser
in a program spanning from Kurt Weill songs and tangos to Leonard Cohen.
We will once again return to Grano Restaurant for a dressed up afternoon of
music and delectable Italian treats. We hope you will join us!
In February we reimagine Don Giovanni - Mozart’s operatic masterpiece in
a rarely heard version for winds, by Joseph Triebensee which will include
the superlative wind players from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and
surprise guests.
Outstanding PERFORMANCES
Extraordinary EXPERIENCES
Joaquin Valdepeñas
David Hetherington
Serouj Kradjian
The season ends in April with Messiaenic Revelations – which features
Olivier Messiaen’s masterpiece Quartet for the End of Time. With two
acclaimed recordings and numerous past performances of this monumental
work, Amici is pleased to present it once again with special guest, TSO
concertmaster Jonathan Crow.
We are at our best when among friends, and these incredible musicians
and composers who grace our stage are the best tribute to our name. As
ever, we count you among our circle of friends, and invite you to experience
our passion for innovative, evocative programming and the best chamber
music and musicians.
“What’s in a name? That which we
call a rose By any other name
would smell as sweet.”
– Shakespeare
Join us as we explore songs and chamber works by two strikingly
different Strausses, Johann Strauss, the “Waltz King” and Richard
Strauss, the renowned opera composer and conductor. Featuring
Canada’s foremost baritone Russell Braun, singing lieder and
operetta arias by both Strausses, joined by violin virtuoso Jonathan
Crow and a stellar ensemble of Toronto’s finest musicians.
MUSIC:
RICHARD STRAUSS
JOHANN STRAUSS
• TILL EULENSPIEGEL
(EINMAL ANDERS)
• WEIN, WEIB UND GESANG
• DUETT CONCERTINO
FOR CLARINET, BASSOON
AND STRINGS
• KAISERWALZER
• LIEDER
• ROSEN AUS DEM SUDEN
• SCHATZ-WALZER
Stra
S
s
s
u
a
tr
uss
OCTOBER 16, 2016 • 3PM
SO N G S A N D C H A M B E R WO R KS BY J O H A N N A N D R I C H A R D ST RAU S S
F E AT U R I N G C A N A DA’ S F O R E M O S T B A R I T O N E R U S S E L L B R A U N
TELUS CENTRE FOR PERFORMANCE AND LEARNING
MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL, 273 BLOOR ST. W., TORONTO
ADULT $45, SENIOR $40, 30 AND UNDER $15, STUDENT $10
AMICIENSEMBLE.COM
416-408-0208
TICKETS.RCMUSIC.CA
Da zdrástvuyet
Rassíya!
Featuring the best of Russian chamber music in the last
hundred years and its evolution through three generations
of the greatest Russian composers. Amici is joined by the
brilliant Russian violinist Ilya Kaler, and virtuoso accordionist
Alexander Sevastian.
MUSIC:
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF
IGOR STRAVINSKY
• TRIO ÉLÉGIAQUE NO. 1
• THREE PIECES FOR CLARINET
SOFIA GUBAIDULINA
• MARDI GRAS
• IN CROCE
GALINA USTVOLSKAYA
• TRIO
ANTON ARENSKY
• TRIO
NOVEMBER 13, 2016 • 3PM
TELUS CENTRE FOR PERFORMANCE AND LEARNING
MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL, 273 BLOOR ST. W., TORONTO
ADULT $45, SENIOR $40, 30 AND UNDER $15, STUDENT $10
AMICIENSEMBLE.COM
416-408-0208
TICKETS.RCMUSIC.CA
A delicious musical
celebration
amongst friends
We look forward to welcoming our Amici family of
supporters for our annual fundraising event – a dressed up
afternoon of music, delectable Italian treats and a silent
auction that can’t be beat at the fabulous Grano Restaurant!
One of our favourite Amici, the wonderful Canadian
soprano Mireille Asselin, joins us in a program spanning
from Kurt Weill songs & Argentinian tangos to
Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.
We are best when we are amongst friends and we look
forward to a delightful afternoon together. Let’s raise a
glass and essential money towards Amici’s upcoming 30th
anniversary season. We can’t do it without you!
December 4, 2016 • 3PM
GRANO RESTAURANT, 2035 YONGE STREET, TORONTO
ADULT $100 • DELIZIOSO ITALIAN TREATS + DRINKS
AMICIENSEMBLE.COM
416-408-0208
TICKETS.RCMUSIC.CA
Mozart’s
operatic masterpiece
A rarely heard version of Mozart’s famous opera Don
Giovanni by Joseph Triebensee, featuring the superlative
wind players from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and
surprise guests. Serouj Kradjian starts the afternoon with
Mozart’s soulful Fantasy in D Minor, followed by Mozart’s
Quintet for Piano and Winds.
MUSIC:
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
FANTASY IN D MINOR FOR SOLO PIANO
QUINTET FOR PIANO & WINDS
DON GIOVANNI (ARR. TRIEBENSEE)
Don
Giovanni
FebRUARY 19, 2017 • 3PM
TELUS CENTRE FOR PERFORMANCE AND LEARNING
MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL, 273 BLOOR ST. W., TORONTO
ADULT $45, SENIOR $40, 30 AND UNDER $15, STUDENT $10
AMICIENSEMBLE.COM
416-408-0208
TICKETS.RCMUSIC.CA
The most ethereally
beautiful music of the
twentieth century
was first heard on a brutally cold January night in 1941, at the
Stalag VIIIA prisoner-of-war camp, in Görlitz, Germany. The
composer was Olivier Messiaen, the work “Quartet for the
End of Time.” Messiaen wrote most of it after being captured
as a French soldier during the German invasion of 1940. For
him, the end of time also meant an escape from history, a leap
into an invisible paradise. With two acclaimed recordings and
numerous past performances of this monumental work, Amici
is pleased to present it once again, this time joined by TSO’s
terrific concertmaster Jonathan Crow.
MUSIC:
ARVO PÄRT
SPIEGEL IM SPIEGEL
OLIVIER MESSIAEN
QUARTET FOR THE END OF TIME
April 30, 2017 • 3PM
TELUS CENTRE FOR PERFORMANCE AND LEARNING
MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL, 273 BLOOR ST. W., TORONTO
ADULT $45, SENIOR $40, 30 AND UNDER $15, STUDENT $10
AMICIENSEMBLE.COM
416-408-0208
TICKETS.RCMUSIC.CA
Joaquin
Valdepeñas
Joaquin Valdepeñas, considered one of the most distinguished clarinetists
of his generation was recently appointed Resident Conductor at the Royal
Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould School and has conducted the Toronto
Symphony Orchestra on many occasions. A prolific recording artist, he has
won two Juno Awards, for his recording of Jacque Hetu’s clarinet concerto
and most recently with Amici Chamber Ensemble’s Levant. his latest CD
with the ARC Ensemble on the Chandos Label was released last season and
features the Clarinet Quintet of Paul Ben-Haim. Another Chandos disc has
just been recorded for release in 2016.
Mr. Valdepeñas was a Grammy Award nominee two consecutive years in the
chamber music category—the latest nomination for a recording featuring the
music of Julius Rontgen on Sony BMG.
Mr. Valdepeñas was appointed principal clarinet of the Toronto Symphony
Orchestra upon graduation from Yale University and appears as soloist,
chamber musician, and conductor. He has performed at international festivals
including Banff, Casals, Curitiba Brazil, Marlboro, Nagano Japan, and Korea’s
Great Mountains Music Festival and has collaborated with the American,
Calder, Emerson, Muir, Orion, St. Lawrence, Takács, Ying, and Zemlinsky
string quartets, as well as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The
International Sejong Soloists and the Kalichstein Laredo Robinson Trio. Mr.
Valdepeñas made his European debut with the BBC Welsh Symphony which
was televised on the BBC and has recorded the Mozart Clarinet Concerto
with the English Chamber Orchestra.
“Joaquin is one of the very finest clarinetists
in the world today and a musician of profound
sensitivity and charisma.” – Peter Oundjian
He has been a member of the artist/faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and
School for many years and was featured in a PBS documentary about the
festival. Last season his love of chamber music took him to performances at
Wigmore Hall in London and The Royal Concertgbeouw Hall in Amsterdam.
As an exclusive Yamaha artist he was instrumental in the design of the CSG
clarinet combining the french and german traditions into a unique voice.
David
Hetherington
A native of St. Catharines Ontario, David Hetherington was for many
years the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Assistant Principal Cellist.
He received his musical training at the Royal Conservatory of Music and the
University of Toronto, and furthered his cello studies in New York, Italy and
Germany with Claus Adam, André Navarra and Paul Tortelier.
Mr. Hetherington teaches at the Glenn Gould School at the Royal
Conservatory, coaches the cello section of the National Youth Orchestra
of Canada and is Music Director of the Inter-Provincial Music Camp near
Parry Sound, Ontario.
As soloist, Mr. Hetherington has performed with the Toronto Symphony
Orchestra, the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, the Niagara Symphony, the
Symphony Orchestra of Canada, New Music Concerts and Soundstreams
Canada as well as recitals at the University of Toronto and the Royal
Conservatory of Music.
As chamber musician, he has toured Canada, the United States, Mexico
and Europe, appeared at the Ottawa, Elora, Sweetwater and Kincardine
Music Festivals and performed with many internationally renowned artists
such as Shmuel Ashkenasi, Emmanuel Ax, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Measha
Brueggergosman, James Ehnes, Heinz Holliger and Arnold Steinhardt.
In addition to Amici, Mr. Hetherington is also a founding member of the
string quartet Accordes which performs regularly for New Music Concerts
and other contemporary music organizations. In 2001, the Canadian Music
Centre, through Centrediscs, released Accordes’ recording of Harry Somers’
String Quartets, for which it received a Juno Award nomination. Accordes has
also recorded works by several other Canadian composers such as Norma
Beecroft, David Eagle, Harry Freedman, Hope Lee, Alexina Louie and Jean
Papineau-Couture.
Mr. Hetherington has appeared on several recordings for the CBC and
for Centrediscs with whom he made the Canadian première recording of
Talivaldis Kenins’ prize-winning cello sonata. He has been active in performing
and recording much contemporary music and has recorded solo cello pieces
by Alice Ho, Chan Ka Nin (CBC Records) and Elliot Carter (Naxos). In
addition, he has collaborated personally with many other composers such as
Brian Cherney, Henri Dutilleux, Heinz Holliger, Helmut Lachenmann, Magnus
Lindberg and Alexina Louie for performances of their works for solo cello. All
of these performances were recorded for broadcast by the CBC.
Mr. Hetherington plays a cello made in 1695 by Giovanni Battista Grancino.
SEROUJ
KRADJIAN
Canadian pianist and composer Serouj Kradjian has established himself
as a versatile artist whose readiness to break new boundaries and explore
different styles has made him an exciting voice on the international music
scene. The New York Times has described Juno-award-winning and
Grammy-nominated Kradjian’s playing as a “persuasive balance between
elegance and spirit,” while the Frankfurter Allegemeine noted that he has
“a fiery temperament and elegant sound” with “technique to burn.” Mr.
Kradjian has appeared with the Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Madrid
and Göttingen Symphonies, the Russian National Orchestra, the Armenian
Philharmonic and the Thailand Philharmonic.
Solo, chamber music recitals and premieres of his compositions have taken Mr.
Kradjian from all major Canadian cities, via the U.S. – New York (Carnegie Hall),
Boston (Jordan Hall), San Francisco, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles – to European
concert halls in Paris, Munich, Salzburg, Trondheim, Lausanne, Geneva, Madrid,
Barcelona and Bilbao and to the Far East in China and Japan. He is regularly invited
to the Ottawa, Bergen, Savannah, Colmar and Cortona music festivals.
As a collaborative artist, Kradjian has appeared in concert with sopranos Dawn
Upshaw, Isabel Bayrakdarian, baritone Russell Braun, tenor Michael Shade,
violinists Lara St. John, Jonathan Crow and Ara Malikian, violist Kim Kashkashian
and the Pacifica, Cecilia and Arthur LeBlanc String Quartets.
Serouj Kradjian’s discography includes the acclaimed Transcendental Etudes and
Piano Concerti by Franz Liszt, and Robert Schumann’s three sonatas for violin and
piano (with Ara Malikian). With Isabel Bayrakdarian he recorded songs by Pauline
Viardot-Garcia, which brought the two artists international accolades and a 2006
Juno award for Classical Album of the Year. With the Amici Chamber Ensemble,
of which he is co-artistic director, he has recorded Armenian Chamber Music and
Levant which won the Juno for Best Classical Recording in 2013.
His explorations of tango and flamenco music have led to the critically acclaimed
recording project “Tango Notturno” and the North American concert tour of
“Reimagining Flamenco” with virtuoso flamenco guitarist Grisha Goryachev.
Works composed or arranged by Serouj Kradjian have been performed by I Musici
de Montréal, the Vancouver Symphony and the Elmer Iseler Singers. His 2008
orchestral arrangements of folk songs by Gomidas, Armenia’s national composer,
featured in the Nonesuch release Gomidas Songs earned him a Grammy award
nomination. Trobairitz Ysabella, a song cycle for soprano and orchestra, inspired
by medieval women troubadours, was a commission by the CBC and premiered
by the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra in 2011 and included in the Juno-nominated
recording “Troubadour and the Nightingale” also featuring his orchestrations of
songs by Maurice Ravel and Sayat Nova sung by Ms. Bayrakdarian and Anne
Manson conducting the MCO.
In April 2015, Mr. Kradjian’s new composition “Cantata for Living Martyrs”,
dedicated to the centenary of the Armenian Genocide, was premiered by the
Fresno Philharmonic and Chorus.
Creative
Heights
Together with the support of our generous donors, Amici
Chamber Ensemble reaches new creative heights season after
season. Your help delivers innovative programming, educational
outreach programs, and the best chamber music in Toronto.
We thank you for your
ongoing support!
Amici Chamber Ensemble gratefully
acknowledges the support of:
Amici’s Supporters
Heights
Nazli Dewji
Marcia & Paul Kavanagh
George Lovrics
Patricia Martin
Patricia & Huw Morgan
Judy Sherk
Samuel Stern
Nancy & Jim Westcott
PROSPER
Douglas Bodley
Adom Knadjian
Alexa Patrenko
AMORE
Julie Bertoia
Lois McDonald
Susan Palmer
& Wayne Drewry
Antonio Signoroni
Ted Sharp
Lois Weir
Sandy Wiseman
Mark Zaretsky
Patrons
Norma Anderson
Luba Andrews
Erin Finlay
Eva Gerber
Wendy Sanford
C. Schuh & M. Horn
Jennifer and John Snell
Alan Torok
Molly Weaver
$1000+
$500 - $999
$250 - $499
$100 - $249
Board Of Directors
& Staff
Board
Staff
Adom Knadjian
Joaquin Valdepeñas
President
David Hetherington
Julie Bertoia
Serouj Kradjian
Treasurer
Artistic Directors
Erin Finlay
Secretary
Kaija Corlazzoli
General Manager
Sue Elliott
Antonio Signoroni
Sandy Wiseman
CONTACT:
[email protected]
(416) 871-4275
www.amiciensemble.com
Outstanding PERFORMANCES
Extraordinary EXPERIENCES
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