Ottawa Chamber Music Society ~ 2009/2010 Concert Series Announced

Subscription Sales to begin for OCMS Concert Series!

Ottawa ’Äì The 16th Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival started on a high note and held it for fourteen days! Following the success of Chamberfest 09, the Ottawa Chamber Music Society (OCMS), under the Artistic Direction of Roman Borys, the Gryphon Trio, proudly announces the annual fall/winter Concert Series, promising exceptional artistry and great variety.

’ÄúWe are thrilled to present the world-class talent of the Arion Baroque Orchestra, the Cantata Singers and Capital BrassWorks, the Wˆºrttemburg Chamber Orchestra of Heilbronn, Rob Kapilow, Cecilia String Quartet, the Tallis Scholars, and of course the Gryphon Trio. What a phenomenal series we have to look forward to!’Äù said Glenn Hodgins, Executive Director of the OCMS.

In the spirit of community interaction and collaboration, the OCMS has welcomed opportunities to partner with the new Shenkman Arts Centre, the Cantata Singers/Capital BrassWorks and the Ottawa New Music Creators.

’ÄúHelping other organizations in the community achieve their goals while adding quality and programming diversity to our own concert offerings is a winning formula. The Shenkman Arts Centre is an outstanding new venue that allows the OCMS to get closer to a community that for many years championed chamber music with its own chamber music series. Collaborating with the Cantata Singers and Capital BrassWorks gives us the opportunity commemorate Remembrance Day on a grand scale, and our partnering with the Ottawa New Music Creators helps give this new organization the momentum and presence it requires in order to continue its very important work for years to come,’Äù says Roman Borys.

Arion Baroque Orchestra: October 17, 8 pm

Shenkman Arts Centre, 245 Centrum Boulevard

Arion is a Montreal-based baroque orchestra which performs on period instruments. Arion’Äôs concerts have been unanimously acclaimed for their clarity and gusto, as well as their refined and expressive performances which have been chosen from a wide array of early music works. The program includes works by Vivaldi, Telemann, Locatelli and Johann Sebastian Bach. This concert is a co-production with the Shenkman Arts Centre.

’ÄúBeautiful and impressive playing like this sets the standards to which others must aspire!’Äù

- Early Music Review (United Kingdom)

Canata Singers & Capital BrassWorks: November 14, 8 pm

Dominion-Chalmers United Church, 355 Cooper Street

For the Fallen ’Äì Remembering our heritage with music for choir and brass. The Cantata Singers of Ottawa and Capital BrassWorks join forces in a unique and powerful performance in honour of Canada’Äôs military heroes, past and present, and in commemoration of Remembrance Day. This program expresses the deep-felt emotions evoked by moving moments in history. This concert is a co-production with the Cantata Singers of Ottawa.

Wˆºrttemburg Chamber Orchestra of Heilbronn: November 26, 8 pm

Shenkman Arts Centre, 245 Centrum Boulevard

Germany’Äôs celebrated Wˆºrttemburg Chamber Orchestra of Heilbronn has been considered one of the world’Äôs finest chamber orchestras for almost a half century. Lead by Ruben Gazarian, the group is embarking on its first Canadian tour and is sure to thrill audiences with its virtuosity and deep sense of musicality and emotion. To date the group has recorded over 500 works ranging from the baroque to the avant-garde and has had as guest performers such legendary artists as Martha Argerich, Alfred Brendel, James Galway, Heinz Holliger and Gidon Kremer. Having garnered accolades for their live performanaces at many of the world’Äôs major centers, they have also recorded over 500 works. Remembering one of the 20th centuries’Äô most important moments, this program will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. In addition to works by Janacek and Benjamin Britten this program will feature a new work by German Karsten Gundermann’Äôs entitled The Fall of the Berlin Wall. This concert is a co-production with the Shenkman Arts Centre.

Wˆºrttemburg Chamber Orchestra of Heilbronn & Gryphon Trio: November 27, 8 pm

Dominion-Chalmers United Church, 355 Cooper Street

Berliner Konzert: 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Two great ensembles join forces to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in a program featuring Berliner Konzert, a major new work for piano trio and orchestra by Canadian composer Paul Frehner. Commissioned by Soundstreams Canada and the Gryphon Trio, Berliner Konzert will be performed throughout the orchestra’Äôs Canadian tour, as well as in Europe. This program will also include a new work by German composer Karsten Gundermann, along with Rudolf Barshai’Äôs arrangement of Shostakovich’Äôs eighth string quartet, a haunting piece that explores the composer’Äôs personal wartime experience.

’ÄúThe [Wˆºrttemburg] Chamber Orchestra played with unerring precision and great transparency, observed concisely crafted dynamics and delighted with their articulation. ’Ķ Variations in sound and the most precise articulation gladdened the heart until the last chords died away.’Äù

- Sˆºdkurier 2007

Rob Kapilow & Gryphon Trio: February 7, 3 pm

Dominion-Chalmers United Church, 355 Cooper Street

What Makes It Great?¬© Commentator, composer and conductor Rob Kapilow, making his Ottawa debut, takes listeners inside the music: he unravels, slows down, and recomposes key passages to hear why a piece is so extraordinary. Hailed as the twenty-first century's successor to Leonard Bernstein, Rob Kapilow will take his audience on a riveting insider's tour of Beethoven's magnificent Ghost Trio, followed by an uninterrupted performance of the complete work by the Gryphon Trio. Classical music first-timers and seasoned listeners alike will be given ’Äònew ears’Äô as they learn how to listen to music with deeper understanding.

’ÄúKapilow gets audiences in tune with classical music at a deeper and more immediate level than many of them thought possible.’Äù

- Los Angeles Times

Cecilia String Quartet with pianist Louise Bessette: March 7, 3 pm

Dominion-Chalmers United Church, 355 Cooper Street

Praised for their 'extraordinary commitment and maturity' (Montreal Gazette) and talent, passion and mastery, the Cecilia String Quartet is one of Canada's most exciting young ensembles today. The Cecilia String Quartet has won awards across the globe including the Galaxie Rising Stars award presented in 2007 at the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival and 2nd Prize at the 2008 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition and is currently Resident String Quartet at McGill University’Äôs Schulich School of Music. Join them as they share the stage with distinguished Canadian pianist Louise Bessette.

’ÄúHow these four women played was nothing short of amazing’Ķ one of those rare performances that announce the presence of great talent."

- St Petersburg Times

Tallis Scholars: March 28, 3 pm

Dominion-Chalmers United Church, 355 Cooper Street

"The Tallis Scholars are a treasure."

- Classical voice of North Carolina

In their Ottawa premiere performance, the Tallis Scholars, "the rock stars of Renaissance vocal music" (The New York Times) embark on a minor crusade to promote the music of Jean Mouton, a contemporary of Josquin des Prˆ©s. The program consists of works by Franco-Flemish composers Loyset Compere, Nicolas Gombert, and a presentation of Josquin’Äôs motet Praeter rerum seriem, one of the great masterworks of the period.

New Music in New Places: April 10, 8 pm

Carleton University Art Gallery

Presented in collaboration with ONMC (Ottawa New Music Creators). Experience this unique opportunity to hear some of the great music being written in Ottawa today played in a casual setting by some of Ottawa’Äôs most outstanding musicians. The presence of the composers adds an interesting dimension as they speak about their creations.

The Ottawa Chamber Music Society thanks the Canadian Music Centre, the originator of the New Music in New Places concept.

Ticket Information

Full 2009-2010 Concert Series details will be available on the OCMS’Äô website at www.chamberfest.com.

Subscription sales begin September 8. Benefits include: access to the best seats in the house, a 40% savings off single tickets, and the ability to exchange tickets for other concerts during the season. Single ticket sales begin October 1. For more information, please contact the OCMS office at 613-234-6306.

Mark your calendars! Chamberfest 2010 will take place from July 24 to August 7.

The Ottawa Chamber Music Society gratefully acknowledges the support of its sponsors, partners and donors.