Up Next > The Enticing Sky
Saturday September 16, 3:00 PM
Canzona Chamber Players presents Rachel Krehm and Janelle Fung in recital
Saturday, September 16, 3:00 PM
27 Sherbourne St North, Toronto Reservations required
Concert tickets: $30
To reserve: reservations@canzona.org or call/text Jonathan at 416.822.0613
The Enticing Sky:
Rachel and Janelle team up to share some fabulous and mostly Canadian art song which all deserve a place alongside the most beloved in the repertoire. Selections from Ryan Trew’s Song cycle Come Closer with poetry by Rachel’s late sister Elizabeth share insights from the beautiful imagination of a child, to the hope of what life beyond death may bring. English composer Ethel Smyth depicts the many moods of the sea in her dramatic song cycle The Three Moods of the Sea. Dorothy Chang creates miniatures to depict the contrasting moments found in nature in Songs of Woods and Water. Anna Pidgorna brings us to the world of Irish Keening Songs, and the funeral lament of a dearly departed husband taken too soon. Cecilia Livingston’s new song cycle luna premit portrays the many faces of the moon in wildly visceral settings.We can’t wait to share these amazing works with you.
PROGRAM
Come Closer Music by Ryan Trew
Magic Mountains Poetry by Elizabeth Krehm
Three Moods of the Sea Music by Ethel Smyth
Requies Poetry by Arthur Symons
Before the Squall
After Sunset
Songs of Wood and Water Music by Dorothy Chang
Rain to the Leaves Poetry by Michael Bullock
Sleeping River
Autumn Fire
Winter’s Day
Come Closer Music by Ryan Trew
My Favourite Place Poetry by Elizabeth Krehm
Amhráin Chaointe (Keening Songs) Music by Anna Pidgorna
Caoineadh Eibhlín (Eileen’s Lament) Funeral Lament by Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill
luna premit: impressions of the moon Music by Cecilia Livingston
luna premit Adapted from Aeneid by Duncan McFarlane
Skin Divers Poetry by Anne Michaels
paper moon Poetry by Duncan McFarlane
Come Closer Music by Ryan Trew
Fantasy Poetry by Elizabeth Krehm
Rachel Krehm
soprano
A multi-faceted artist, soprano Rachel Krehm is the co-founder and General Director of Opera 5. She works in opera, new music, art song, improvisation, voice and web-series acting, and is also a writer and producer. An avid believer in new creation, Rachel works in commissioning, workshopping, and creating Canadian art song and opera. In 2018, she premiered an orchestral song cycle by Vancouver based composer Ryan Trew on texts by her late sister Elizabeth Krehm called Come Closer. Rachel has now created a libretto to expand this work into a chamber opera with Ryan Trew.The opera explores processing grief through memories and dreams. Come Closer saw development workshops with Pacific Opera Victoria’s Artist Residency program in June 2022 and Opera McGill’s Beta Lab in the spring of 2022.
In 2019, Rachel performed the title role of Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos with Highlands Opera Studio where her performance was described as “soulful” by Opera Canada. She has performed Poulenc’s La voix humaine multiple times, most recently with Toronto City Opera, where her performance was described as “a breathtaking virtuoso performance of boundless passion and seemingly limitless musicality” by Opera Going Toronto. Rachel co-writes, produces, and performs in the Threepenny Submarine, Opera 5’s new web series combining opera and puppetry in collaboration with Gazelle Automations. One episode is online and eight more episodes will be released in the fall of 2023. Rachel will sing the song cycle Come Closer in November of 2023 with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. She is also workshopping Come Closer at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in November 2023.
Janelle Fung
piano
Canadian pianist Janelle Fung has performed in concert from coast to coast in Canada, including tours with Prairie Debut and Jeunesses Musicales du Canada. Winner of the “Artist of the Year” award from the BC Touring Council in 2014, her international concerts have taken her to over twenty countries on five continents. An avid chamber musician, Ms. Fung has appeared in concert with the Ying Quartet, New York Woodwind Quintet, Timothy Chooi and Matt Haimovitz. Her first solo album, Aubade, received glowing reviews and a nomination for the Prix Opus for album of the year.
Ms. Fung has been a prize winner in numerous national and international competitions, including the Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition, the Concours OSM-Standard Life, and the Canadian Music Competition. She has been featured on radio stations nationally and internationally, including CBC, Radio-Canada, Classical 96.3 FM, NPR, and Radio France.
Ms. Fung’s interest in opera have led to collaborations with Nicole Cabell, Teresa Stratas, and William Warfield. She has toured twice as Touring Artistic Director for opera productions presented by Jeunesses Musicales du Canada and has been on faculty at Highlands Opera Studio since 2016.
Born in Vancouver, Canada, Janelle Fung began her piano studies at the age of four. Her principal teachers have included Nelita True, Julian Martin and Marc Durand. Ms. Fung holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School. She has made her home in Montreal since 2010 and joined the faculty of the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal as Professor of Piano and Chamber Music in the fall of 2022.
Sunday, September 24, 7:30 PM
Healing Through Music: A Fundraiser for Ukraine
Healing Through Music: A Fundraiser for "Help Us Help Ukraine"
Arts & Letters Club
14 Elm Street, Toronto
7:30 - 10 PM
United by a desire to help Ukrainians withstand Russian aggression, Canadian and Ukrainian musicians play beloved classics and unique gems.
Canadian violinist Stanislav Pronin, Ukrainian pianist Anna Sagalova and Canadian soprano Rachel Krehm join forces to raise money for humanitarian aid to Ukraine. They will treat the audience to beloved classics from Giuseppe Tartini, Johannes Brahms and Maurice Ravel, unique gems from Ukrainian composers Myroslav Skoryk and Viktor Kosenko, and fresh works from Canadian composer David Jaeger and Ukrainian-Canadian composer Anna Pidgorna.
The performers and organizers are generously donating their time, and the Arts & Letters Club of Toronto is donating their space for this event. All the funds raised from ticket sales and donations will support Help Us Help Ukraine, an initiative is run by the Holy Eucharist Cathedral in New Westminster, BC, an active community hub for Ukrainians in Greater Vancouver. The church holds frequent community and arts events and is welcoming to people of all religious and non-religious backgrounds and affiliations. Their team of volunteers works tirelessly to assist newly arrived Ukrainians displaced by the war and raises funds to purchase medical supplies, vehicles and other non-lethal equipment badly needed to save the lives of Ukraine’s defenders.
Please consider making a donation https://en.uahelp.ca/donate
PROGRAM
Fantasie, Op.28
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Two Etudes
Viktor Kosenko (1896-1938)
Burleska
Myroslav Skoryk (1938-2020)
Invention No 3
David Jaeger (b. 1947)
Amhráin Chaointe (Keening Songs)
I. Caoineadh Eibhlín (Eileen’s Lament)
III. Caoine Magaidh (Joking Lament)
Anna Pidgorna (b. 1985)
INTERMISSION
Violin Sonata in G minor (Devil’s Trill Sonata)
Larghetto ma non troppo
Allegro moderato
- Andante
Allegro assai - Andante - Allegro assai
Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770)
Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major
I. Allegro mabile
II. Andate tranquillo - Vivace - Andante - Vivace di più - Andante - Vivace
III. Allegretto grazioso (quasi andante)
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Tzigane
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
STANISLAV PRONIN (VIOLIN)
Stanislav Pronin began his violin studies in Israel with his grandfather, Veniamin Pronin, a student of Pyotr Stoliarskiy and former Professor at the Odessa Conservatoire. He continued his studies at Indiana University with Nelli Shkolnikova and Jaime Laredo, and later at the Hochschule für Musik Köln, Germany, with Professor Zakhar Bron.
Stanislav’s professional career began following his solo debut in Israel at the age of 10. He has performed as soloist and chamber musician at many festivals including Verbier Festival and Interlaken Classics in Switzerland, Banff Festival and Stratford Festival in Canada, Kronberg Festival in Germany, Skanderborg Festival in Denmark, etc. He performs regularly in USA, Canada, Europe, Scandinavia and Asia in such venues as Berliner Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall, National Arts Centre Ottawa, Perlman Theatre in Philadelphia, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Guangzhou Grand Theater, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Wuxi Grand Theater (China), KKL Luzern, Salzburg Festspiele, Paris Philharmonie, Royal Festival Hall and Royal Albert Hall in London, Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, Semperoper in Dresden, and so on. He has collaborated with numerous conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Teodor Currentzis, Leonard Slatkin, Tobias Ringborg, Antonio Mendez, Sigiswald Kuijken, Michael Schonwandt, Lior Shambadal, Leif Segerstram, Marc Soustrot and Joshua Weilerstein. As chamber musician, he has collaborated with Jan Lisiecki, Jaime Laredo, James Campbell, Mark Kaplan, Pavel Vernikov, Jeanne Marie Conquer, Barry Shiffman, Bion Tsang, Orion String Quartet, Victor Danchenko, Julian Milkis, Alexander Zemtsov, Jan-Erik Gustafsson, Anton Nel, Emille Naoumoff and Lera Auerbach.
In addition to solo and chamber music, Stanislav is an experienced orchestra musician. He has been invited to perform as Concertmaster with Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and Odense Symphony Orchestra in Denmark, Austin Lyric Opera in the USA, Berliner Symphoniker, Beethoven Bonn Orchestra, Oldenburgisches Staatsorchester and Freiburg Philharmonic in Germany, Musikkolegium Winterthur in Sweitzerland, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra in Estonia, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in the UK and Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he often tours with the West Eastern Divan Orchestra at the personal invitation of Daniel Barenboim, and most recently with Utopia Orchestra at the invitation of Teodor Currentzis.
Stanislav is a recipient of multiple awards from such organization as the American String Teachers Association, America-Israel Cultural Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts and Classical Artists Development Foundation. He plays a violin by Antonio Stradivari on generous loan by an anonymous patron, with the kind assistance of Florian Leonhard Fine Violins Fellowship.
ANNA SAGALOVA (PIANO)
Anna Sagalova is a Ukrainian pianist displaced from her home in Kharkiv due to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and constant bombardment of her city. She is an Honored Artist of Ukraine and Associate Professor at Kharkiv I.P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts.
Anna is an internationally recognized artist and a laureate of many competitions in Italy, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Canada and Germany. She frequently plays as a soloist with symphony orchestras throughout Ukraine under the baton of conductors from Ukraine, USA, Switzerland, Great Britain, Austria, etc. She has given concerts at the state radio studio in Bern, the International Museum of the Red Cross in Geneva (Switzerland), the Bozendorfer Hall in Vienna (Austria), the House Museum of F. Liszt, the concert hall in Altenburg in Weimar (Germany), among others. She has taken part in a number of festivals, including the Days of Ukrainian Culture festival in Poznan (Poland), the International Music Festival in Lubostron (Poland), the International festival of chamber music in Shanghai (China), Kiev-Music-Fest (Ukraine), and Kharkiv Assemblies (Ukraine). Her performances have been broadcasted on radio and television. She has recorded two compact discs.
In 2016 Anna was elected chairman of the advisory department in the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine “Council of Young Scientists". She is also a member of the National Cоuncil on issues of cultural and art education under the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine. She took part in the creation of laws on higher artistic education: “On education” and “On scientific and technical activity”.
Anna is the artistic director of the International competition of musical art “Kharkiv Assemblies”, co-founder of the project “Music against cancer”, and a producer of multiple events and concerts. She is a jury member in several national and international music competitions in Ukraine. Anna gives piano master-classes in Ukraine, Spain and the UK. Among her students and graduates are winners of all-Ukrainian and international music competitions.
Anna studied with the People's Artist of Ukraine T.B. Vyerkina at the I.P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts in Kharkiv, and completed a postgraduate course with G. Otto at the University of Music Franz Liszt in Weimar (Germany). She participated in international piano masterclasses in Ukraine, Switzerland, China and France, where she attended classes of the professors K. Steinegger, P. Soubleau (Switzerland), E. Skovorodnykov (Ukraine-Canada), N. Shtarkman (Russia), K. Hellwig, G. Rosenberg, E. Haase, M. Dorrit, G. Otto (Germany), V. Zuponchich (USA), L. Knezhkova-Hassi, (Canada), K. Zera, P. Yansen (France), B. Sokolai (Hungary), Xiao Zong (China).
RACHEL KREHM (SOPRANO)
A multi-faceted artist, soprano Rachel Krehm is the co-founder and General Director of Opera 5. As a performer she works in opera, new music, art song, improvisation, and voice and web-series acting. Along with performing, she is a writer and producer. In 2019, Rachel performed the title role of Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos with Highlands Opera Studio where her performance was described as “soulful” by Opera Canada. She has performed Poulenc’s La voix humaine multiple times, most recently with Toronto City Opera, where her performance was described as “a breathtaking virtuoso performance of boundless passion and seemingly limitless musicality” by Opera Going Toronto.
An avid believer in new creation, Rachel works in commissioning, workshopping, and creating Canadian art song and opera. In 2018, she premiered an orchestral song cycle by Vancouver based composer Ryan Trew on texts by her late sister Elizabeth Krehm called Come Closer. Rachel has now created a libretto to expand this work into a chamber opera with Ryan Trew. The opera explores the relationship of sisters complicated by drug addiction and separated by death, and includes writing by both of the sisters weaved together through memories, dreams, and conversations. Come Closer saw development workshops with Pacific Opera Victoria’ Artist Residency program in June 2022 and Opera McGill’s Beta Lab in the spring of 2022. The commission is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.
Through the pandemic, Rachel co-wrote, produced, and performed in the Threepenny Submarine pilot, which is Opera 5’s new web series that follows puppets Lydian and Iona on deep sea adventures and combines puppetry and opera in collaboration with Gazelle Automations. Supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, eight more episodes will be created and produced in 2022. In the fall of 2021 Rachel sang Trew’s Come Closer with the Kingston Symphony, and performed selections from Anna Pidgorna and Maria Reva’s new opera Plaything with Société de musique contemporaine du Québec and Musique 3 Femmes. Rachel travelled to Berlin in the fall of 2022 for a complete performance and the German premiere of Plaything with Musique 3 Femmes and ufaFabrik. In June 2023, Rachel sang the song cycle Come Closer with North York Concert Orchestra.
CANZONA CHAMBER PLAYERS
Canzona Chamber Players is an annual classical and jazz chamber music concert series in its 20th year. It has hosted some of Canada's top musicians at various venues on Toronto Island and downtown Toronto. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Canzona broadcast recitals on YouTube.com/CanzonaChamberPlayers, recorded to the highest standard by Evan Mitchell and John S. Gray. The series has featured Winona Zelenka, Joseph Johnson and Jonathan Crow (TSO), Marie Bérard (COC), 2020 Juno recipient Angela Schwarzkopf, Yosuke Kawasaki and Jessica Linnebach (NACO) and many more. Canzona has raised over $242 000 for the St. Michael's Hospital Foundation and is currently fundraising for the Kharkiv's Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts, Ukraine. Please sign up for our newsletter and enjoy our virtual recitals at CANZONA.ORG
PICKLE UNDERGROUND
Pickle Underground is a multidisciplinary not-for-profit arts organization based in New Westminster, BC dedicated to showcasing and developing Ukrainian art. Established by Ukrainian-Canadian composer Anna Pidgorna and Korean-Canadian composer Ben Keast as an informal initiative to offer financial support to Ukrainian musicians affected by the war, we are working on becoming a registered non-profit. We collect donations and make direct transfers to individuals who have been dislocated, lost work, had their homes destroyed or even lost loved ones because of Russia’s invasion of their homeland. We are also working with Ukrainian artists in Greater Vancouver, both recently arrived and well-settled, to promote Ukrainian art, create a sense of community, and offer educational resources for career advancement.
Please enjoy our previous Ukraine fundraiser, Anna Sagalova’s concert, from January 17, 2023, produced by pickle underground (Anna Pidgorna, and Canzona Chamber Players) in Toronto.
Thank you to Evan Mitchell & John s. Gray, for filming and recording, and to the arts & letters club, toronto, for hosting the event.
About us >>
Canzona Chamber Players is an annual classical and jazz chamber music concert series in its 20th year featuring some of Canada's top musicians. The series has been hosted at various venues on Toronto Island and in downtown Toronto.
Founded by Jacob Stoller, Jonathan Krehm and Roger Sharp, we exist and thrive because of the enthusiastic support of the St.-Andrew-By-the-Lake Congregation and the Toronto Island community and our music patrons in the GTA.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we were able to broadcast recitals on our YouTube page, which were recorded to the highest standard. The series has featured Winona Zelenka, Joseph Johnson and Jonathan Crow (TSO), Marie Bérard (COC), 2020 Juno recipient Angela Schwarzkopf, Yosuke Kawasaki and Jessica Linnebach (NACO) and many more.
We thank John S. Gray for audio recording these acoustic performances and Evan Mitchell for video recording, editing and broadcasting them. All performers were paid for their performance. In light of the war in Ukraine, we recently presented two fundraising events.
Click here to learn more and make a donation to Ukraine.
For the past ten years, we have held an annual fundraising concert in memory of Elizabeth Krehm, and to date have raised over $242 000 for the St. Michael's Hospital Foundation.
Click here to learn more and make a donation to St. Michael's Hospital.
Now in our 20th season, 2022-23, we are presenting live events again, beginning with John Kameel Farrah in November.
Please sign up to receive concert updates here.
We hope to see you soon.
Jonathan Krehm and Canzona Chamber Players
Canzona on YouTube >>
