The Beginning of our 12th Season
The beginning of our 12th Season at Cantala has begun! If you haven’t auditioned yet for Cantala please do be in touch. We are always interested in meeting new and talented singers and musicians.
It will be an exhilarating and incredible ride for Cantala this year!
The 12th Season is going to start with a big rumble. On Friday Oct. 25th @ 7pm in Heliconian Hall we are singing R. Murray Schafer’s Gamelan in a concert titled Around the World in 80 Days. Gamelan is an incredible piece both in creation and ability to perform and also one of Schafer’s most popular. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to share it with Toronto audiences.
Next, on Saturday November 9th 2019 @ 7pm we are hosting a refugee benefit concert with Forest Hill United Church in their sanctuary. Nancy has been the music director at Forest Hill for many years and she, along with all the community members of Forest Hill, have been supporting two Eritrean refugee’s as they make Canada their new home. This concert is to celebrate Canada’s delicious diversity as well as give these two new arrivals to Canada financial help as they put together their new life in Canada. Tickets are $20 at the door.
Our seasonal concert is on Saturday December 7th, 2019 @ 7pm, at St. Martin in the Fields, 151 Glenlake Road, Toronto. We are thrilled to be performing John Rutter’s Dancing Day with Canada’s sensational harpist, Erica Goodman. What an honor! It is a gorgeous, classic work that brightens the dark nights of December. It is sure to be a magical moment of choral music making. Look for tickets ($20) to be sold online or through any of our choir members.
As we welcome in 2020 we will be working hard to prepare to be a choir in residence at the Banff Center for Arts and Creativity in February. It is a weekend long workshop intensive where we get to work with award-winning, international composition and conductor faculty, and work with ensemble-in-residence Pro Coro Canada. The weekend aims to create exchanges between a circle of creators, leaders, and performers active in the choral music milieu. The workshop also aims to support and bring visibility to the Canadian choral community, and encourage collaboration within the Canadian network. Choirs will explore new approaches to the performance of choral music, work on pre-existing repertoire, explore new works, and further refine their craft through coaching and lectures. We are very excited to have been offered this opportunity.
As if the year isn’t already a show topping year, we have been invited to sing a recital at Roy Thompson Hall on Friday May 1, 12-1pm. The concert is free to the public. We are thrilled to have been invited to participate in this series and to perform with the esteemed organist David Simon in the recital.
Our concert year concludes with our recital on Saturday May 2nd, 7pm at Forest Hill United Church. It will be a celebration of wonderful music from Canada, America, Australia and Brazil. It will be featuring Toronto’s percussionist, David Schotzko on marimba in a piece by Toronto composer James Rolfe.
Our season continues into May and June with what we call “ A Spring Project”. Optional, but highly encouraged, we study unpublished works by up and coming unpublished (or virtually unpublished) composers. We finish the spring sessions with a recording. Watch for an announcement for when we will be accepting new works for review.
Well, that’s our 12th season. It sounds daunting, but if you are in for a thrilling ride come and set up an audition today. You won’t be disappointed.
Here at Cantala we love to sing. Do you? Well then, don’t delay. Send an inquiry today.