2017

MARKHAM CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FESTIVALS

Founded by Maestro Kristian Alexander in 2011, Markham Contemporary Music Festival is an annual event that takes place in various concert venues in Markham, Ontario. The Festival promotes the performance of music written worldwide in the 20th and the 21st centuries. It also includes lectures and seminars in both English and French, workshops, master-classes, pre-concert chats, intermission discussions, post-concert receptions, documentary films about the life of contemporary composers, and networking events.

The 2017 Markham Contemporary Music Festival included the following events:

Saturday, June 10, 2017 at 8:00 p.m.

Official opening ceremony

Concert

Cornell Recital Hall
3201 Bur Oak Ave., Markham ON L6B 0T2

A centrepiece to Markham’s 2017 Contemporary Music Festival, the Kindred Spirits Orchestra presents a stimulating concert of twentieth century music. Two works from prominent Danish composer, Carl Nielsen are showcased in this captivating program: Suite for String Orchestra, and Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra. The former, his opus 1, was written while still studying at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, and alludes to the composer’s future style and unique mature voice. The KSO’s own principal clarinetist Carmen Gassi tackles the wildly bi-polar Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra; a piece of music said to depict the soloist for whom it was written. Entirely based on melodies composed from age nine to twelve, British composer Benjamin Britten’s Simple Symphony is a crafty reworking of simple piano works into a stunning work for strings.

Michael Berec | conductor
Carmen Gassi | clarinettist

Kristian Alexander | host

Nielsen, Concerto for clarinet and orchestra

Britten, Simple Symphony

Nielsen, Keine suite

Tickets are $10 (general admission) and can be purchased by phone through the Kindred Spirits Orchestra Box Office at 905.604.8339, in person at the Kindred Spirits Orchestra administration office at 1-4981 Highway 7, Markham ON L3R 1N1 (Monday through Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.) or at the door of Cornell Recital Hall, 1 hour prior to the viewing.

Sunday, June 11, 2017 at 1:00 p.m.

Exhibit

MCMF Rehearsal Hall
3a-50 Innovator Ave (2nd fl.), Stouffville ON L4A 0Y2

Open Visit of the World Musical Instruments Collection at the International Music Academy.
Free admission.

Monday, June 12, 2017 at 5:00 p.m.

Exhibit

MCMF Rehearsal Hall
3a-50 Innovator Ave (2nd fl.), Stouffville ON L4A 0Y2

Open Visit of the World Musical Instruments Collection at the International Music Academy.
Free admission.

Tuesday, June 13, 2017 at 7:00 p.m.

Performance and workshop

Cornell Recital Hall
3201 Bur Oak Ave., Markham ON L6B 0T2

Maestro Kristian Alexander leads the Kindred Spirits Orchestra in a open rehearsal featuring Canadian composers, artists, and pieces. A composition workshop (part 1 - artistic expression through contemporary writing techniques) for young Canadian composers is also included.

Wednesday, June 14, 2017 at 7:00 pm.

Film

MCMF Rehearsal Hall
3a-50 Innovator Ave (2nd fl.), Stouffville ON L4A 0Y2

Shostakovich et Stalin. Lecture (in French) and a documentary film (in English) about the artistic struggle and human tragedy of Soviet composers during the communism.

Thursday, June 15, 2017 at 5:00 p.m.

Exhibit

MCMF Rehearsal Hall
3a-50 Innovator Ave (2nd fl.), Stouffville ON L4A 0Y2

Open Visit of the World Musical Instruments Collection at the International Music Academy.
Free admission.

Sunday, June 18, 2017 at 5:00 p.m.

Exhibit

MCMF Rehearsal Hall
3a-50 Innovator Ave (2nd fl.), Stouffville ON L4A 0Y2

Open Visit of the World Musical Instruments Collection at the International Music Academy.
Free admission.

Monday, June 19, 2017 at 7:30 p.m.

Film

MCMF Rehearsal Hall
3a-50 Innovator Ave (2nd fl.), Stouffville ON L4A 0Y2

Lecture (in French) and documentary film about the live and work of the Danish composer Nielsen. Organized together with the Consulate of Danemark in Toronto.

Tuesday, June 20, 2017 at 7:00 p.m.

Performance and workshop

Cornell Recital Hall
3201 Bur Oak Ave., Markham ON L6B 0T2

Maestro Kristian Alexander leads the Kindred Spirits Orchestra in an open rehearsal featuring Canadian composers, artists, and pieces. A composition workshop (part 2 - exporing new ideas in collective writing of contemporary music) for young Canadian composers is also included.

Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at 5:00 p.m.

Exhibit

MCMF Rehearsal Hall
3a-50 Innovator Ave (2nd fl.), Stouffville ON L4A 0Y2

Open Visit of the World Musical Instruments Collection at the International Music Academy.
Free admission.

Friday, June 23, 2017 at 7:30 p.m.

Film

MCMF Rehearsal Hall
3a-50 Innovator Ave (2nd fl.), Stouffville ON L4A 0Y2

Lecture (in English) and documentary film about the live and work of the Danish composer Nielsen. Organized together with the Consulate of Danemark in Toronto.

Saturday, June 24, 2017 at 1:00 p.m.

Exhibit

MCMF Rehearsal Hall
3a-50 Innovator Ave (2nd fl.), Stouffville ON L4A 0Y2

Open Visit of the World Musical Instruments Collection at the International Music Academy.
Free admission.

Sunday, June 25, 2017 at 5:00 p.m.

Film

MCMF Rehearsal Hall
3a-50 Innovator Ave (2nd fl.), Stouffville ON L4A 0Y2

Shostakovich and Stalin. Lecture (in English) and a documentary film about the artistic struggle and human tragedy of Soviet composers during the communism.

Tuesday, June 27, 2017 at 7:00 p.m.

Performance and workshop

Cornell Recital Hall
3201 Bur Oak Ave., Markham ON L6B 0T2

Maestro Kristian Alexander leads the Kindred Spirits Orchestra in an open rehearsal featuring Canadian composers, artists, and pieces. A composition workshop (part 3 - writing music for film and television) for young Canadian composers is also included.

Thursday, June 29, 2017 at 8:00 p.m.

Flato Markham Theatre for the Performing Arts
171 Town Centre Blvd., Markham ON L3R 6GB

Concert

Written years after the original opera’s fruition, Verdi’s Overture to La forza del destino is a gripping and illustrative prelude that is recurrently performed autonomously in concert halls.

Composed during the turbulent years of the early twentieth century, Prokofiev’s output was the most prolific as he penned his wildly dreamy and spirited Concerto No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra.

Premiered only days before Tchaikovsky’s sudden death, makes his final Symphony No. 6 “Pathétique”, a truly desperately mournful yet awe-inspiring requiem.

Kristian Alexander | conductor
Aaron Schwebel | violinist

Michael Berec | host

7:15 p.m.   Prélude (pre-concert recital)
7:30 p.m.   Pre-concert talk in the foyer of Markham Theatre
                   Intermission discussion with Michael Berec and Aaron Schwebel
                   Post-concert complimentary glass of Champagne

Verdi, Overture to La forza del destino
Prokofiev, Concerto for violin and orchestra No. 1, Op. 19
Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6, Op. 74 “Pathétique”

Thursday, June 29, 2017 at 10:00 p.m.

Flato Markham Theatre for the Performing Arts
171 Town Centre Blvd., Markham ON L3R 6GB

Official closing of Markham Contemporary Music Festival. Meet-and-greet the conductor, the musicians, volunteers, management and staff while listening to live jazz.

The 2011, 2014 and 2017 festivals have been generously funded by the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, a program of the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, administered by the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund Corporation.

The 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 festivals have been supported by the Tourism Industry Partners, a program of the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, administered by the Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation.