2020

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MARKHAM CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FESTIVALS

Markham Contemporary Music Festival has been promoting, since 2011, the performance by local artists of music written worldwide in the 20th and the 21st centuries. An annual event, the Festival 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 Festival encourages local community engagement through activities that celebrate and preserve performing arts.

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The 2020 Markham Contemporary Music Festival included the following events:

 

DONG XU PIANO RECITAL

Saturday, September 26, 2020 at 8:00 p.m.
SMSV Cultural Centre | 3300 Highway 7, Markham

The concert is limited to in-person audience of 50 patrons
Tickets are also available for live-streamed and "on-demand" formats

Local pianist Dong Xu presents works by Canadian composers. Interview and Q&A with the audience. Meet and greet the artist (in accordance with public health and safety protocols).

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MUSIC FOR FLUTE, PIANO AND STRINGS

Saturday, October 3, 2020 at 8:00 p.m.
SMSV Cultural Centre | 3300 Highway 7, Markham

The concert is limited to in-person audience of 50 patrons
Tickets are also available for live-streamed and "on-demand" formats

Chamber music concert with pieces by French impressionist composers Debussy, Ravel, Dukas and Satie. Jing Ye (violin), Tina Wang (flute), Silvester Ho (piano) and David Bloom (cello). Interview and Q&A with the audience. Meet and greet the artists (in accordance with public health and safety protocols).

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MUSIC OF THE LAND

Tuesday, October 6, 2020 at 8:00 p.m.
SMSV Cultural Centre | 3300 Highway 7, Markham

The concert is limited to in-person audience of 50 patrons
Tickets are also available for live-streamed and "on-demand" formats

Métis violinist Clare Pellerin presents traditional folklore music. Interview and Q&A with the audience. Meet and greet the artist (in accordance with public health and safety protocols).

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FOLK, MYSTICISM and SPIRIT

Saturday, October 10, 2020 at 8:00 p.m.
SMSV Cultural Centre | 3300 Highway 7, Markham

The concert is limited to in-person audience of 50 patrons
Tickets are also available for live-streamed and "on-demand" formats

Under the direction of Maestro Kristian Alexander, Markham's own Kindred Spirits Orchestra performs a night of unforgettable evocative music. Influenced by mysticism and transcendence, acclaimed local pianist Gregory Vandikas masterfully tackles Scriabin’s introspective Concerto for piano in the “bright blue” key of F-sharp. Rounding out the program is Wagner’s classical, youthful and solely completed symphony: Symphony in C major. Interview and Q&A with the audience. Meet and greet the artists (in accordance with public health and safety protocols).

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CHAN, KREEM and BEETHOVEN

Saturday, October 17, 2020 at 8:00 p.m.
SMSV Cultural Centre | 3300 Highway 7, Markham

The concert is limited to in-person audience of 50 patrons
Tickets are also available for live-streamed and "on-demand" formats

A centerpiece to Markham’s 2020 Contemporary Music Festival, this multi-media concert features Markham's composers Werner Chan and Erik Kreem and local celebrity violinist Sarah Davidson-Gurney presenting a world première of a newly written concerto for Violin and orchestra under the baton of Markham's conductor and Kindred Spirits Orchestra Music Director Maestro Kristian Alexander. Interview and Q&A with the audience. Meet and greet the artists (in accordance with public health and safety protocols).

 

Tuesday, September 29, 2020 at 7:15 p.m.
SMSV Culture Centre | 3300 Highway 7, Markham

Markham's composers Werner Chan and Erik Kreem work together with Maestro Kristian Alexander on the presentation of their newly written works. Rehearsal and working session open to the general public. Q&A with the artists about their artistic vision for the development of the local performing arts community.

Tuesday, October 13, 2020 at 7:15 p.m.
SMSV Culture Centre | 3300 Highway 7, Markham

Local pianist Gregory Vandikas gives an open rehearsal for the general public on contemporary works for solo piano and concertos. Interview and Q&A session on the efforts of the local artistic community to preserve and enhance the communication of culture and heritage by pivoting towards new models and opportunities.

 

Friday, September 25, 2020 at 7:15 p.m.
SMSV Cultural Centre | 3300 Highway 7, Markham

Orchestral instruments Workshop I (strings)

Open to the general public, this workshop is led by Markham-based violinist Jing Ye and explores the history and performing technique of the Western stringed instruments (violin, viola, cello and contrabass) and of the Chinese erhu. Limited to 10 participants registered in advance through the MCMF Office.

Friday, October 2, 2020 at 7:15 p.m.
SMSV Cultural Centre | 3300 Highway 7, Markham 

Orchestral instruments Workshop II (woodwinds)

Open to the general public, this workshop is led by flutist Tina Wang and explores the intersections between traditional Chinese instruments (dizi and xiao) and Western orchestral instruments (flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon). Limited to 10 participants registered in advance through the MCMF Office.

Friday, October 9, 2020 at 7:15 p.m.
SMSV Cultural Centre | 3300 Highway 7, Markham

Orchestral instruments Workshop III (brass)

Open to the general public, this workshop is led by Susan Dustan and discusses the evolution of the trumpet, trombone and tuba in the brass ensemble pieces by 20th and 21st century composers. Limited to 10 participants registered in advance through the MCMF Office.

Friday, October 16, 2020 at 7:15 p.m.
SMSV Cultural Centre | 3300 Highway 7, Markham

Orchestral instruments Workshop IV (percussion)

Open to the general public, this workshop is led by Adam Calleta and explores the colourful world of percussion instruments. Limited to 10 participants registered in advance through the MCMF Office.

 

Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 7:00 p.m.

SMSV Culture Centre | 3300 Highway 7, Markham

Celebrate the International Music Day and learn more about Markham's first settler and German artist William Moll Berczy. Lecture and a documentary film about the music, art and heritage of Markham's 200-year old history. Presented by Markham's own conductor and music director Kristian Alexander.

Thursday, October 8, 2020 at 7:00 p.m.

SMSV Culture Centre | 3300 Highway 7, Markham

Lecture about the artistic achievements of the local African American artistic community. Presented by a panel of music educators from the Markham's branch of the International Music Academy and moderated by Paul Williamson.

 

from Friday, September 25, 2020 at 1:00 p.m.
to Sunday, October 18, 2020 at 7:00 p.m.

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.
Includes authentic musical instruments by Indigenous artists and a 45-minute documentary film (daily at 6 p.m.) presenting the millennial-long history of Métis music, art, culture and heritage.