JOAQUIN VALDEPEÑAS DAVID HETHERINGTON SEROUJ KRADJIAN AMICIENSEMBLE.COM Message From the Artistic Directors In this, our 29th season, Amici Chamber Ensemble remains as true to our roots as in our first season in Toronto. Our passion for performing outstanding chamber music works with our friends, our Amici, is as always at the heart of our programming. This season we welcome old friends and new, all counted among the world’s best chamber musicians. We open in October with Strauss vs. Strauss, an exploration of songs and chamber works by two great Strausses, Johann Strauss and Richard Strauss, featuring Canada’s foremost baritone Russell Braun and violin virtuoso Jonathan Crow. Feeling rebellious? Join us in November for Mother Russia, a unique program featuring music from several generations of Russian rebels and exiles. Amici is joined by fabulous Russian musicians, violinist Ilya Kaler and accordionist Alexander Sevastian. Our Annual Gala concert in December supporting our upcoming 30th anniversary season is a celebration of cabaret music. One of our favourite Amici, wonderful Canadian soprano Mireille Asselin, joins us at our fundraiser in a program spanning from Kurt Weill songs and tangos to Leonard Cohen. We will once again return to Grano Restaurant for a dressed up afternoon of music and delectable Italian treats. We hope you will join us! In February we reimagine Don Giovanni - Mozart’s operatic masterpiece in a rarely heard version for winds, by Joseph Triebensee which will include the superlative wind players from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and surprise guests. Outstanding PERFORMANCES Extraordinary EXPERIENCES Joaquin Valdepeñas David Hetherington Serouj Kradjian The season ends in April with Messiaenic Revelations – which features Olivier Messiaen’s masterpiece Quartet for the End of Time. With two acclaimed recordings and numerous past performances of this monumental work, Amici is pleased to present it once again with special guest, TSO concertmaster Jonathan Crow. We are at our best when among friends, and these incredible musicians and composers who grace our stage are the best tribute to our name. As ever, we count you among our circle of friends, and invite you to experience our passion for innovative, evocative programming and the best chamber music and musicians. “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.” – Shakespeare Join us as we explore songs and chamber works by two strikingly different Strausses, Johann Strauss, the “Waltz King” and Richard Strauss, the renowned opera composer and conductor. Featuring Canada’s foremost baritone Russell Braun, singing lieder and operetta arias by both Strausses, joined by violin virtuoso Jonathan Crow and a stellar ensemble of Toronto’s finest musicians. MUSIC: RICHARD STRAUSS JOHANN STRAUSS • TILL EULENSPIEGEL • WEIN# WEIB UND GESANG !EINMAL ANDERS" • ROSEN AUS DEM SUDEN • DUETT CONCERTINO • KAISERWALZER FOR CLARINET# BASSOON AND STRINGS • SCHATZ-WALZER • LIEDER Strauss Strauss OCTOBER 16, 2016 • 3PM SONGS AND CHAMBER WORKS BY JOHANN AND RICHARD STRAUSS FEATURING CANADA’S FOREMOST BARITONE RUSSELL BRAUN TELUS CENTRE FOR PERFORMANCE AND LEARNING AMICIENSEMBLE.COM MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL# 273 BLOOR ST. W.# TORONTO 416-408-0208 ADULT $45# SENIOR $40# 30 AND UNDER $15# STUDENT $10 TICKETS.RCMUSIC.CA Da zdrástvuyet Rassíya! Featuring the best of Russian chamber music in the last hundred years and its evolution through three generations of the greatest Russian composers. Amici is joined by the brilliant Russian violinist Ilya Kaler, and virtuoso accordionist Alexander Sevastian. MUSIC: SERGEI RACHMANINOFF IGOR STRAVINSKY • TRIO ÉLÉGIAQUE NO. 1 • THREE PIECES FOR CLARINET SOFIA GUBAIDULINA • MARDI GRAS • IN CROCE GALINA USTVOLSKAYA • TRIO ANTON ARENSKY • TRIO NOVEMBER 13, 2016 • 3PM TELUS CENTRE FOR PERFORMANCE AND LEARNING AMICIENSEMBLE.COM MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL# 273 BLOOR ST. W.# TORONTO 416-408-0208 ADULT $45# SENIOR $40# 30 AND UNDER $15# STUDENT $10 TICKETS.RCMUSIC.CA A delicious musical celebration amongst friends We look forward to welcoming our Amici family of supporters for our annual fundraising event – a dressed up afternoon of music, delectable Italian treats and a silent auction that can’t be beat at the fabulous Grano Restaurant! One of our favourite Amici, the wonderful Canadian soprano Mireille Asselin, joins us in a program spanning from Kurt Weill songs & Argentinian tangos to Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. We are best when we are amongst friends and we look forward to a delightful afternoon together. Let’s raise a glass and essential money towards Amici’s upcoming 30th anniversary season. We can’t do it without you! December 4, 2016 • 3PM GRANO RESTAURANT# 2035 YONGE STREET# TORONTO AMICIENSEMBLE.COM 416-408-0208 ADULT $100 • DELIZIOSO ITALIAN TREATS % DRINKS TICKETS.RCMUSIC.CA Mozart’s operatic masterpiece A rarely heard version of Mozart’s famous opera Don Giovanni by Joseph Triebensee, featuring the superlative wind players from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and surprise guests. Serouj Kradjian starts the afternoon with Mozart’s soulful Fantasy in D Minor, followed by Mozart’s Quintet for Piano and Winds. MUSIC: WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART FANTASY IN D MINOR FOR SOLO PIANO QUINTET FOR PIANO & WINDS DON GIOVANNI !ARR. TRIEBENSEE" Don Giovanni FebRUARY 19, 2017 • 3PM TELUS CENTRE FOR PERFORMANCE AND LEARNING AMICIENSEMBLE.COM MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL# 273 BLOOR ST. W.# TORONTO 416-408-0208 ADULT $45# SENIOR $40# 30 AND UNDER $15# STUDENT $10 TICKETS.RCMUSIC.CA The most ethereally beautiful music of the twentieth century was first heard on a brutally cold January night in 1941, at the Stalag VIIIA prisoner-of-war camp, in Görlitz, Germany. The composer was Olivier Messiaen, the work “Quartet for the End of Time.” Messiaen wrote most of it after being captured as a French soldier during the German invasion of 1940. For him, the end of time also meant an escape from history, a leap into an invisible paradise. With two acclaimed recordings and numerous past performances of this monumental work, Amici is pleased to present it once again, this time joined by TSO’s terrific concertmaster Jonathan Crow. MUSIC: ARVO PÄRT SPIEGEL IM SPIEGEL OLIVIER MESSIAEN QUARTET FOR THE END OF TIME April 30, 2017 • 3PM TELUS CENTRE FOR PERFORMANCE AND LEARNING AMICIENSEMBLE.COM MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL# 273 BLOOR ST. W.# TORONTO 416-408-0208 ADULT $45# SENIOR $40# 30 AND UNDER $15# STUDENT $10 TICKETS.RCMUSIC.CA Joaquin Va l d e p e ñ a s Joaquin Valdepeñas, considered one of the most distinguished clarinetists of his generation was recently appointed Resident Conductor at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould School and has conducted the Toronto Symphony Orchestra on many occasions. A prolific recording artist, he has won two Juno Awards, for his recording of Jacque Hetu’s clarinet concerto and most recently with Amici Chamber Ensemble’s Levant. his latest CD with the ARC Ensemble on the Chandos Label was released last season and features the Clarinet Quintet of Paul Ben-Haim. Another Chandos disc has just been recorded for release in 2016. Mr. Valdepeñas was a Grammy Award nominee two consecutive years in the chamber music category—the latest nomination for a recording featuring the music of Julius Rontgen on Sony BMG. Mr. Valdepeñas was appointed principal clarinet of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra upon graduation from Yale University and appears as soloist, chamber musician, and conductor. He has performed at international festivals including Banff, Casals, Curitiba Brazil, Marlboro, Nagano Japan, and Korea’s Great Mountains Music Festival and has collaborated with the American, Calder, Emerson, Muir, Orion, St. Lawrence, Takács, Ying, and Zemlinsky string quartets, as well as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The International Sejong Soloists and the Kalichstein Laredo Robinson Trio. Mr. Valdepeñas made his European debut with the BBC Welsh Symphony which was televised on the BBC and has recorded the Mozart Clarinet Concerto with the English Chamber Orchestra. “Joaquin is one of the very finest clarinetists in the world today and a musician of profound sensitivity and charisma.” – Peter Oundjian He has been a member of the artist/faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and School for many years and was featured in a PBS documentary about the festival. Last season his love of chamber music took him to performances at Wigmore Hall in London and The Royal Concertgbeouw Hall in Amsterdam. As an exclusive Yamaha artist he was instrumental in the design of the CSG clarinet combining the french and german traditions into a unique voice. David Hetherington A native of St. Catharines Ontario, David Hetherington was for many years the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Assistant Principal Cellist. He received his musical training at the Royal Conservatory of Music and the University of Toronto, and furthered his cello studies in New York, Italy and Germany with Claus Adam, André Navarra and Paul Tortelier. Mr. Hetherington teaches at the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory, coaches the cello section of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and is Music Director of the Inter-Provincial Music Camp near Parry Sound, Ontario. As soloist, Mr. Hetherington has performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, the Niagara Symphony, the Symphony Orchestra of Canada, New Music Concerts and Soundstreams Canada as well as recitals at the University of Toronto and the Royal Conservatory of Music. As chamber musician, he has toured Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe, appeared at the Ottawa, Elora, Sweetwater and Kincardine Music Festivals and performed with many internationally renowned artists such as Shmuel Ashkenasi, Emmanuel Ax, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Measha Brueggergosman, James Ehnes, Heinz Holliger and Arnold Steinhardt. In addition to Amici, Mr. Hetherington is also a founding member of the string quartet Accordes which performs regularly for New Music Concerts and other contemporary music organizations. In 2001, the Canadian Music Centre, through Centrediscs, released Accordes’ recording of Harry Somers’ String Quartets, for which it received a Juno Award nomination.