The Royal Conservatory of Music’s 2021.22 season has been revealed! Earlier today,
Dr. Peter Simon, Michael and Sonja Koerner President & CEO of The Royal Conservatory,
Mervon Mehta, Executive Director of Performing Arts, and
James Anagnoson, Dean of The Glenn Gould School, announced the details of the diverse events that will make up the 13th concert season at The Royal Conservatory of Music.
“As a community, we have managed to navigate through some extraordinary times, but I am proud to say that our beautiful Conservatory will be, once again, a hive of artistic activity. Music is such an essential and intrinsic part of the human experience, and we are thrilled to be able to open our doors in order to welcome back our guests and patrons, as well as a host of extraordinary musicians and artists, to Koerner Hall for the 2021.22 season. And as you might expect, Mervon Mehta and James Anagnoson have curated an exquisite line-up of talent that will, no doubt, be an inspiration to all,”
Dr. Simon stated.
Mr. Mehta said: “This special concert season is infused with a restoring and revitalizing energy, and we are overjoyed to welcome audiences back in our venues to share the vitality of live music together in person again. We also understand that the situation might change quickly and that some might not feel comfortable in public spaces yet, therefore we are also offering the option to enjoy many of our performance presentations online from the comfort of home. Many performances will look familiar, as there are concerts we had planned to bring in our 2020.21 season – we are grateful to everyone who chose to keep their tickets for the rescheduled dates! Of course, we also have several surprises that we have been able to add to our new season to keep things fresh and exciting. One thing is certain, we cannot wait to be back in the concert hall with our patrons and artists to share live music once again.”
“As always, but especially now during these unprecedented times, we are enormously grateful to our season sponsor, BMO Financial Group, along with all our series and individual concerts sponsors and donors for the 2021.22 season, including Michael and Sonja Koerner. We also send out heartfelt thanks to our government funders: The Department of Canadian Heritage, the Ontario Arts Council, the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, and the Toronto Arts Council,” he added.
Said
Dean Anagnoson: “The Glenn Gould School will once again present an array of talent in Royal Conservatory Orchestra and Opera, Mazzoleni Masters, the Discovery Series, The Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists, and the Rebanks Family Fellowship Concert Series – which feature the faculty, students, and friends of The Glenn Gould School.”
Highlights of this season’s uniquely curated concerts include:
- Season Gala: Follies in Concert
- An all-star cast of Canadian theatre, opera, and television icons and orchestra perform songs from Follies, the legendary masterpiece considered by many to be the greatest musical ever created. Starring Ma-Anne Dionisio, Eric McCormack, Cynthia Dale, and Marcus Nance.
- 21C Music Festival
- Featuring a residency with the Kronos Quartet, and the world premiere of Gould's Wall, co-produced by Tapestry Opera and Maniac Star, will be performed on the wall of the Ihnatowycz Hall in the Atrium of The Royal Conservatory with audiences seated in the café.
- Classical Music, including:
- Invesco Piano Concerts: Jean-Yves Thibaudet from France, Víkingur Ólafsson from Iceland, Seong-Jin Cho from Korea, and Ivo Pogorelić from Croatia, plus Canada’s own Jan Lisiecki, Juno Award winner, UNESCO Ambassador, and alumnus of The Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School.
- Power Corporation of Canada Vocal Concerts: Two powerhouse mezzo-sopranos, two powerhouse bass-baritones, and a beloved group perform in this series. Do not miss Joyce DiDonato, Anne Sofie von Otter, Sir Bryn Terfel, Gerald Finley, and The King’s Singers.
- String Concerts: Violinists Joshua Bell and Gidon Kremer, cellists Gautier Capuçon and Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Jordi Savall on a 7-string bass viol, and cellist Mischa Maisky with his son Sascha and his daughter Lily.
- Chamber Music: Jerusalem String Quartet with Pinchas Zukerman and Amanda Forsyth, the Danish String Quartet, the Dover Quartet with Davóne Tines, the Galilee Chamber Orchestra with Jon Kimura Parker (piano), Les Violons du Roy with Jeremy Denk (piano), and finally, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and the Penderecki String Quartet with pianist and RCM alumnus Stewart Goodyear, soprano Jonelle Sills, mezzo-soprano Beste Kalender, tenor Zachary Rioux, and baritone Korin Thomas-Smith, all current or recent students of The Royal Conservatory.
- TD Jazz Concerts: Jazz From Around The World, a series that celebrates jazz’s journey from its roots in New Orleans melding European, Afro-Cuban and Acadian music to its adoption by musicians from every corner of the world including India, Cuba, Cameroon, Japan, South Korea, Trinidad, Israel, Brazil, Indonesia, and Turkey, with Etienne Charles and Guy Mintus, Richard Bona and Alfredo Rodríguez Band and Pedrito Martínez Group, Selçuk Suna and Joey Alexander, Miles from India – A Celebration of the Music of Miles Davis, Makoto Ozone Trio and Youn Sun Nah, and finally Ivan Lins Quintet and Supergenerous featuring Cyro Baptista and Kevin Breit.
- World Music Concerts feature Mariza from Portugal, Ladysmith Black Mambazo from South Africa, Las Cafeteras from the USA, and Patricia Cano from Peru, in music ranging from fado to vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube, and a mishmash of punk, hip-hop, beat music, cumbia, and rock.
- Royal Conservatory Orchestra, consisting of students from The Glenn Gould School and regarded as one of the best training orchestras in North America, conducted by Tania Miller, Andrei Feher, and Johannes Debus.
- And much more
- Music Mix
- A Tribute to Dave Brubeck
- Gospel Tribute to Aretha Franklin
- Music on Film at Hot Docs
- World, North American, Canadian, and Ontario premieres by Mark Anthony Turnage, Bent Sørensen, Brian Current, Steve Reich, Dan Becker, Antonio Haskell, Stacy Garrop, Dur-Dur Band, Fatimah Al-Zaelaeyah, Zachary James Watkins, Eve Egoyan, Morgan-Paige Melbourne, and Marc Neikrug.
Other artists featured in the 2021.22 season include:
Complete programming details of the 2021.22 Koerner Hall concert season
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