Canadians Abroad

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This September finds jet-set 19-year-old pianist Jan Lisiecki — who was heard at Switzerland’s Verbier Festival in July where he was recorded by Radio-Canada — performing a solo recital in Prague, followed by Grieg’s piano concerto in Bonn, Milan and Verona under the baton of Kristjan Järvi. He returns home to play Schumann with the Calgary Philharmonic and Roberto Minczuk on October 3. SG

Pianist Marc-André Hamelin, who appeared at the OSM’s “Classical Spree” weekend in August, spends September playing Brahms with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra before giving solo recitals in Toulouse and London’s Wigmore Hall. SG

Manitoba-born violinist James Ehnes, who spent much of August with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and conductor Peter Oundjian in Amsterdam, Helsinki and Reykjavik, stops in Montreal for a September 7 recital at Pollack Hall before heading off to Montreux for Saint-Saëns, to Denmark for Mozart, and to Sydney for Prokofiev and Vivaldi. SG

Violinist Lara St. John, recently heard at Prince Edward Island’s Indian River Festival, heads to Peru this fall for a gala concerto appearance with Sociedad Filarmonica de Lima. Later in the fall she will be heard in Turin, Italy, for the “Red Violin Concerto” with that city’s Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale. SG

Pianist Jon Kimura Parker plays Brahms in Knoxville, Tchaikovsky in Memphis, Ravel in Houston and Grieg in San Antonio before gathering with his newly formed Montrose Trio — with colleagues Martin Beaver and Clive Greensmith — for the Ladies’ Morning Musical Club in Montreal on November 30. SG

Canadian soprano Jennifer Maines, 
based at the Tiroler Landestheater in Innsbruck, Austria, since 2003, has been gaining impressive notices for stepping into the daunting role of Ortrud in Wagner’s Lohengrin at the last moment - a feat she accomplished at two German companies in recent months. Das Opernglas said: “Jennifer 
Maines proved that one can - with very little rehearsal time - deliver an impressively convincing presentation. She completely mastered the difficult role with powerful high notes, good clear diction and above all an enormous stage presence.” SG

After receiving excellent notices this summer in the title role of Don Giovanni at the Glyndebourne Festival, fast-rising baritone Elliot Madore will make his Munich Opera debut as Pelléas in a new production of Pelléas et Mélisande at the Bavarian State Opera, to premiere during the 2015 Munich Opera Festival in July. In Feb/Mar, Madore returns to Zurich Opera where he is a member of the Ensemble, as Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos. He also makes his Nederlandse Opera debut as Prince Herisson de Porc-Epic in Laurent Pelly’s new production of Chabrier’s L’étoile (Oct. 2014). JS

Another fast-rising singer, soprano Layla Claire makes her Zurich Opera debut as the Governess in Turn of the Screw (Nov. 2014). This summer, Claire received raves for her Donna Anna at Glyndebourne. Her other high-profile engagements in the 2014-15 season include Anne Trulove at the Metropolitan Opera’s Rake’s Progress (May 2015) and Blanche in Les dialogues des Carmélites at the Washington National Opera (Feb/Mar 2015). JS

Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka, recipient of the 2014 “Rubies” Opera Canada Award, begins her season as Tosca and Elisabetta (Don Carlos) at the Vienna State Opera (Sept/Oct). In Feb. 2015, Pieczonka returns to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in one of her most successful roles, Senta in Der fliegende Hollander. The spring finds the soprano in Teatro Real Madrid as Leonore in Fidelio (May/June). She ends her season as Chrysothemis in Elektra at the Munich Opera Festival (July). JS