Concerts at the Music Garden at Queens Quay: 10 year anniversary

We got this from the Harbourfront folks about the 10th anniversary program for the Music Garden. If you haven't already you should check out the Sunday afternoon and Thursday evening free concerts that are performed at the Music Garden.

The garden was inspired by Bach’s Suite No. 1 in G Major for Unaccompanied Cello, in a collaboration between cellist Yo-Yo Ma and landscape artist Julie Moir Messervy. See and hear Yo-Yo Ma below.



The garden was inspired "with each dance movement within the suite corresponding to a different section of the Garden: Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Menuett and Gigue" the Harbourfront anniversary notes says.

The garden was built 10 years ago, and was inspired by

All concerts are approximately one hour long (except where noted) and take place weather permitting. Concerts are cancelled in the event of inclement weather.

Sunday, June 28, 4pm
Shauna and Friends
Renowned Canadian cellist Shauna Rolston leads six outstanding student cellists from the University of Toronto's Faculty of Music in music by Elgar, Massenet, Kreisler and others, arranged for cello solo, duo, and ensemble. As a prelude, Barbara Croall (cedar flutes and First Nation drum) and Anita McAlister (trumpet and conch shell) perform Croall’s Calling from Different Directions, which was composed for the Music Garden in summer 2008. Calling from Different Directions is a short, arresting piece that invokes the four sacred directions, bringing together instruments from different cultural "directions": trumpet, conch shell, traditional cedar flutes and First Nations hand drum.

Thursday, July 2, 7pm
Samulnori!
This exuberant Toronto ensemble returns with traditional Korean drumming and dance—rooted in nature; transplanted to Canada.

Sunday, July 5, 4pm
Orfea and the Golden Harp
Theatre Cotton Robes presents their delightful adaptation of the Orfeo myth for the whole family. A little girl shoulders her golden harp and journeys to the Underworld to bring her beloved grandfather back to life; along the way we hear music from 400 years of opera, including Monteverdi, Mozart and Offenbach. Performed by baritone Lawrence Cotton, soprano Brooke Dufton and pianist Rachad Feizoullaev. (For information about Theatre Cotton Robes, visit www.theatrecottonrobes.com.)

Thursday, July 9, 7pm
Quartets with a Past
The Kirby String Quartet presents four classical works that look back to earlier composers: Beethoven’s Quartet Op. 74, Mendelssohn’s Capriccio Op. 8, Brahms’ Quartet Op. 67, third movement, and Stravinsky’s neo-classical Concertino. Aisslinn Nosky and Julia Wedman (violins), Max Mandel (viola), Carina Reeves (cello).

Thursday, July 16, 7pm
Moonlight, Mountains and Flowing Streams: Voices of Ancient China

The China Court Trio performs music from the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Wen Zhao, (pipa – Chinese lute), Yongli Xue, (zheng – Chinese zither), Yu Cheng Zhang (bowled clay flute and vertical flute). (For information about Wen Zhao, visit wendyzhao.com.)

Sunday, July 19, 4pm
Does This Drum Make My Brass Sound Big?
The brass and percussion sections of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada return with a delightful, varied programme that showcases outstanding young Canadian musicians. (For information about the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, visit nyoc.org.)

Thursday, July 23, 7pm
Another knock at the door
Toronto’s Shiraz Ensemble presents a heady brew of Persian art music and original compositions. Yashar Salek (Daf/Dayereh), Nima Rahmani (Santoor), Saeed Kamjoo (Kamanche), Araz Salek (Tar), Shahin Fayaz (Rabab). A co-presentation with Small World Music.

Sunday, July 26, 4pm
Oiseaux Interurbains/Migratory Songflutes
Alison Melville performs acoustic and electronic music from the 12th to 21st centuries, for various flutes, recorders and recorded sound, including works by Bach, Telemann, Hildegard of Bingen, Jacob van Eyck, Peter Hannan, Linda C. Smith, Ben Grossman and the performer. (For information about Alison Melville, visit alisonmelville.com.)

Thursday, July 30, 7pm
Behind the Masques
The period musicians of Toronto Masque Theatre, with renowned Montreal dancer-choreographer Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière, reveal different faces of baroque dance—courtly, theatrical, grotesque. Lacoursière will also perform several baroque dances reflected in the design of the Music Garden. "[Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière] has set a new standard for historical dance in Toronto."—Robert Everett-Green, reviewing Toronto Masque Theatre in the Globe and Mail, April 25, 2009. (For information about Toronto Masque Theatre, visit torontomasquetheatre.ca.)

Thursday, August 6, 7pm
Strong and Free
True North Brass returns with a programme that will delight and dazzle. Raymond Tizzard and Richard Sandals (trumpets), Joan Watson (French horn), Alastair Kay (trombone) and Scott Irvine (tuba). (For information about True North Brass, visit truenorthbrass.com.)

Sunday, August 9, 4pm
Passage to India
Singer Bageshree Vaze and tabla virtuoso Vineet Viyas perform classical North Indian ragas, along with classically-based songs from early Bollywood. (For information about Bageshree Vaze, visit bageshree.com and for information about Vineet Viyas, visit vineetvyas.com.)

Thursday, August 13, 7pm
Coming out of Hayd’n
The Cecilia String Quartet performs the Quartet in C Major, Op. 74 No. 1, by the "father of the string quartet," Joseph Haydn, and the sparkling, newly discovered String Quartet No. 1 in E-flat Major by French composer Theodore Dubois (1837-1924). Sarah Nematallah and Min-Jeong Koh (violins), Caitlin Boyle (viola) and Rebecca Wenham (cello). (For information about the Cecilia String Quartet, visit ceciliastringquartet.com.)

Sunday, August 16, 4pm
Utopian Voices
In the early baroque, fans of the renaissance cornetto and the newly perfected violin duked it out over which instrument was closest to the human voice. Happily, we don’t have to choose when the virtuosi of FOLIA—baroque violinist Linda Melsted and cornettist Kiri Tollaksen—perform glorious music by Castello, Frescobaldi, Gabrieli and others. With Borys Medicky, harpsichord.

Thursday, August 20, 7pm
“My Unrest”: Yiddish Songs for a New Day
Grammy-nominated singer Adrienne Cooper (New York) and world-renowned pianist Marilyn Lerner (Toronto) perform music from their new CD: settings of Yiddish modernist poems on love, longing, war and migration by contemporary composers including Sarah Gordon, Frank London, Fima Chorny and the performers. (For information about Marilyn Lerner, visit marilynlerner.com.)

Sunday, August 23, 4pm
Accordions for a Weill
Four virtuoso accordionists—Ina Henning, Eugene Laskiewicz, Joseph Macerollo and Alexander Sevastien—perform a wide-ranging programme of music, from Bach to Piazzola. Mezzo-soprano Ali Garrison joins Henning in songs by Kurt Weill, and accompanies dancer-choreographer Claudia Moore in Moore’s touching dance, For Heddy, to the Brecht/Weill song, Nana’s Lied. "Heddy was my dear grandma from Germany who loved parties, was a fabulous cook and worked at the Broadway Market in Buffalo. She lived to be 97. Nana's Song makes me think of her and inspired me to make this dance."—Claudia Moore

Thursday, August 27, 7pm
Echoes of Ancient Boundaries
In ancient Japan, village boundaries extended as far as the sound of their taiko drums carried. The thrilling sounds of Toronto’s outstanding taiko ensemble Nagata Shachu (formerly known as the Kiyoshi Nagata Ensemble) transcend the boundaries of East and West, past and present. (For information about Nagata Shachu, visit nagatashachu.com.)

Sunday, August 30, 4pm
Percussion from a Suitcase
Find out what happens when a percussionist—the spectacular Aiyun Huang of Montreal—creates a programme for which all the instruments fit into her suitcase! Music by Matthew Burtner, Alvin Lucier, Javier Alvarez, Roberto Sierra, Georges Aperghis and John Adams. (For information about Aiyun Huang, visit aiyunhuang.com.)

Thursday, September 3, 7pm
Bach at Dusk – With Claudia
Winona Zelenka continues her journey through Bach’s six suites for solo cello. This summer, she performs the Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major for solo cello; for the last three movements of the piece (Sarabande, Bourree I and II, and Gigue), Ms. Zelenka is joined by dancer Claudia Moore in the world premiere of a new work by choreographer Carol Anderson. The dance has been generously commissioned by renowned Canadian composer Ann Southam.
Please note: This is a 30-minute concert due to early sunset. (For information about Winona Zelenka, visit winonazelenka.com. (For more information on Claudia Moore, visit danceumbrella.net/clients_moonhorse.htm.)

Thursday, September 10, 7pm
Leika
In a new work commissioned by Harbourfront Centre, Andrea Nann Dreamwalker Dance Company and multimedia composer Tom Kuo reveal hidden secrets of the Music Garden through music, dance and interactive play. Please note: This is a 30-minute concert due to early sunset. Pre-performance audience participation encouraged from 6:30-7pm. (For information about Andrea Nann, visit dreamwalkerdance.com.)

Sunday September 20, 4pm
The Sanssouci Quartet
This exciting new Boston-Toronto quartet on period instruments performs Boccherini’s Quartet in D Major and Mozart’s Quartet in D Minor, K. 421. Abigail Karr and Karina Fox (violins), Sarah Darling (viola), Kate Haynes (cello). And to close: a reprise of Barbara Croall’s Calling from Different Directions, performed by Anita McAlister and the composer. (See June 28 concert.)

TORONTO MUSIC GARDEN TOURS
Guided tours begin at 11am on Wednesdays: June 3, 10, 17, 24; July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29; August 5, 12, 19, 26; September 2, 9, 16, 23, 30.
Pre-concert guided tours begin at 5:30pm on Thursdays: July 2, 9, 16, 23; August 6, 13, 30, 27; September 3, 10.
Visitors are invited to take a free 45-minute walking tour led by Toronto Botanical Garden tour guides. Tours start in the west end of the Garden in the Prelude section. Self-guided 70-minute audio tours (English only) hosted by Yo-Yo Ma and Julie Moir Messervy are also available for a rental fee of $5 (free rentals for children). Private group tours are also available ($5 per person). For reservations, call 416-397-1366 or visit torontobotanicalgarden.ca.