Editorial

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With the autumn weather upon us, it’s time to turn our attention to the busy fall concert season. Our intrepid editorial team has put together a list of exciting concerts for October in our expanded Previews section. One such concert features Montreal Symphony Orchestra principal trumpet Paul Merkelo, whose recounting of how he completed his studies and how this led him to create a scholarship for financial need is a fitting cover story.

Contemporary music is well represented with a historical look at Arnold Schoenberg’s landmark work Pierrot Lunaire, celebrating its 100 years, and a profile of Canadian composer Bruce Mather.

This issue is full of news and reviews, a comprehensive concert calendar, and our La SCENA Xpress section of Jazz and arts-related text.

Fall is also the perfect time to anticipate the year ahead, and what would make a better gift than a 2013 musical wall calendar?

We are excited about introducing the La Scena Musicale 2013 Musical Celebrity Recipe Calendar (available at the end of October). Each of the 12 months in 2013 will feature a notable musician along with his/her favourite recipe. Many of the recipes will warm the cockles of your heart, and the calendar will help you plan the upcoming year.

For instance, for those wondering what a great maestro eats before a concert, Kent Nagano shares his wife’s favourite pre-concert pasta sauce, while Yannick Nézet-Séguin shares his mother’s famous crepe recipe. World-renowned stars are featured, including conductors Kent Nagano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Jean-Marie Zeitouni, sopranos Isabel Bayrakdarian and Shannon Mercer, countertenor Daniel Taylor, pianists Alain Lefèvre and Jan Lisiecki, and violinists James Ehnes, Hilary Hahn and Lara St. John.

Priced at $20 (taxes included), this calendar is designed as an annual fundraiser for La Scena Musicale as well as for other musical and arts groups and non-profit organizations. Instead of selling chocolates, become a distribution partner and keep up to 50% of the proceeds. See www.lascena.ca for more details.

Have a great musical October.