NEWS RELEASE March 3, 2020 Beethoven Unleashed TSM 15th Anniversary Festival celebrates classical milestones old and new TORONTO – From July 9 to August 1, 2020, the Toronto Summer Music Festival presents Beethoven Unleashed, a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the iconic composer Ludwig van Beethoven and the legacy of his indelible cultural influence. “Beethoven and his music conjure ideas of universal expressions of the human spirit that transcend the ‘Classical’ or ‘Romantic’ labels that history has given them. Celebrating the human spirit is also about celebrating experimentation and revelling in music that is both ahead of its time and symbolic of its own time. In this year’s festival we shine a light on Beethoven’s oeuvre and show how his music echoes through generations, influencing composers and performers to this day,” said Jonathan Crow, Artistic Director of Toronto Summer Music. The 2020 season marks TSM’s 15th anniversary and includes a star-studded Opening Night hosted by CBC’s Tom Allen; a thrilling art song recital from Benjamin Appl and Wolfram Rieger; an exquisite marriage of music and dance from Echo Chamber Toronto; the internationally-renowned Danish String Quartet; superstar pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin playing the Emperor Concerto; a special collaboration with Tapestry Opera to present Iron Road in concert; a 3-part concert series of the complete set of Beethoven’s Violin Sonatas, and a world premiere by celebrated Canadian composer Kelly-Marie Murphy. Festival passes are on sale now and single tickets go on sale March 17, 2020. Toronto Summer Music Festival 2020 Mainstage Concerts Opening Night: Beethoven Unleashed Thursday, July 9 at 7:30 p.m. at Koerner Hall Tom Allen hosts the Opening Night celebration featuring performances by mezzo- soprano Simone McIntosh and baritone Clarence Frazer, pianists Nicholas Namoradze, Philip Chiu and Steven Philcox, clarinetist James Campbell, bassoonist Darren Hicks, horn player Neil Deland, violinist Martin Beaver, violist Eric Nowlin, cellists Nicholas Canellakis and Cameron Crozman, and bassist Jeffrey Beecher. The program features a selection of Mozart’s arias and duets, Beethoven’s 7 Variations on “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen”, WoO 46; Liszt’s “Totentanz” and Beethoven’s Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20. Brahms Sextet Friday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall The program begins with one of Beethoven’s most celebrated compositions, the romantic and sorrowful Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 “Pathétique”, written when he was 27 years old. The evening continues with Strauss’s lyrical and technically demanding Sonata for Violin and Piano in E-flat Major, Op. 18., and wraps up with Brahms Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36. This concert features violinists Martin Beaver, Jonathan Crow, Yura Lee on both violin and viola, violist Eric Nowlin, and cellists Nick Canellakis and Cameron Crozman, and pianists Nicholas Namoradze, winner of the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition, and Philip Chiu. German Art Song Monday, July 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall Commended by The New York Times for possessing “the exacting attention to text of an actor, the charisma of a seasoned storyteller and an agile voice,” German-born baritone Benjamin Appl makes his Toronto debut with pianist Wolfram Rieger, a prolific recording artist with numerous award-winning CDs to his credit. The recital features German Art Song by Beethoven and Schubert. Appl has been described as “the current front-runner in the new generation of Lieder singers” by Gramophone Magazine and is steadily attracting an enthusiastic following for his performances on the world’s leading recital, concert and opera stages. Beethoven and All That Jazz Tuesday, July 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall The Mark Fewer Trio returns to TSM to tell the story of Beethoven through the language of jazz. Beethoven’s life exposed through the classics of Dave Brubeck, Freddy Hubbard and Gerry Neiwood, along with new contributions of Cameron Wilson and Bramwell Tovey. Bach Celebration Wednesday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m. at Church of the Redeemer Join TSM’s Artistic Director Jonathan Crow, violinist Andrew Wan, oboist Sarah Jeffrey and the TSM Academy Fellows for an evening of extraordinary music, food and wine. This all-Bach program includes the Chaconne from Partita No.2 in D minor, BWV 1004, excerpts from Mass in B minor and The Art of Fugue, Concerto for Violin in A minor, BWV 10041 and Concerto for Oboe and Violin, BWV 1060. This popular Special Event includes a post-concert celebration with the artists featuring food and drink from Sublime Catering. 2 Iron Road Thursday, July 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Koerner Hall TSM present’s Tapestry Opera’s Iron Road, the critically-acclaimed opera by composer Chan Ka Nin and librettist Mark Brownell that tells the story of Chinese workers who helped to build the Canadian Pacific Railway. The concert version of this epic tale is led by Music Director Jordan de Souza and features soprano Midori Marsh as Lai Gwan, a young impoverished woman who leaves China in 1880 in search of her missing father in the new world. Disguised as a boy, Lai Gwan faces the brutal realities of the land, dangerous work and unexpected love as part of the work of laying the last tracks on the Canadian Pacific Railway. Canada’s first bilingual Cantonese-English opera, Iron Road begins as a humble, individual quest and expands to consider the Chinese struggle for dignity and identity in Canada. Ghosts of Beethoven Friday, July 17 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall Beethoven’s shadow looms large over the worlds of Shostakovich and esteemed Canadian composers Brian Cherney and Stephen Chatman. The intriguing program features Cherney’s “Like Ghosts from an Enchanter Fleeing” for piano and cello, Chatman’s “In Memoriam Harry Adaskin”, Shostakovich’s Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147 and Beethoven’s Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 “Ghost”. The concert features violinists Andrew Wan and Mayumi Seiler, violist Rebecca Albers, cellist Julie Albers and pianists John Novacek and Philip Chiu. Violin Sonatas: Part 1 Monday, July 20 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall TSM Artistic Director Jonathan Crow and pianist Philip Chiu join forces to perform the complete set of Beethoven’s Sonatas for Piano and Violin over three evenings during the Festival. The first instalment includes Violin Sonatas No. 1 in D Major, Op. 12; No. 3 in E- flat Major, Op. 12 and No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30. VC2 Cello Duo: Beethoven’s Cellists Tuesday, July 21 at 7:30 p.m. at Lula Lounge Enjoy a night of fantastic musicianship, eclectic repertoire and witty banter from VC2 Cello Duo at Lula Lounge, one of Toronto’s most sensational live music hubs. This innovative cello duo, comprised of cellists Bryan Holt and Amahl Arulanandam, have been captivating audiences since 2015 with their performances of classical masterworks, rarely heard gems and boundary-pushing music. “This young pair gave off a modern, streetwise energy, like a couple of badasses,”observed the Ottawa Citizen. Through extensive historical research VC2 Cello Duo have identified several cellist- composers who were close to Beethoven. Though Beethoven himself was not a cellist, he was the first major composer to take the cello seriously and left behind five sonatas that are at the core of the repertoire. The programme is comprised of pieces by 3 Beethoven’s cellist colleagues, including Anton Kraft, Berhard Romberg and Jean-Louis Duport. As well, VC2 commissioned Canadian cellist-composers Andrew Downing, Matt Brubeck, Fjóla Evans, and Raphael Weinroth-Browne to create works based on the Beethoven cello sonatas. VC2 will perform these four works at the TSM concert, plus a new commission by Vincent Ho. These five new works shed light on Beethoven’s compositional trademarks while spanning a number of musical genres, including jazz, contemporary, world music and heavy metal. Violin Sonatas: Part 2 Wednesday, July 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall The sensational duo of violinist Jonathan Crow and pianist Philip Chiu continue with the second installment of their showcase of Beethoven’s Sonatas for Piano and Violin. Part 2 features Sonatas No. 4 in A minor, Op. 23; No. 6 in A Major, Op. 30; and No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 “Kreutzer”. The Missing Pages Thursday, July 23 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall The Missing Pages, a play written by and starring Tom Allen, brings together music, song, drama, history and informed speculation to investigate what really happened on December 16, 1825 at a meeting between Ludwig van Beethoven, and Canadian musician and teacher Theodor Molt. Directed by Richard Greenblatt, The Missing Pages also stars Ric Waugh, Patricia O’Callaghan, Bryce Kulak and features harpist Lori Gemmell. Miró Quartet Friday, July 24 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall The award-winning Miró Quartet is one of America’s most celebrated string quartets, with a 25-year history of performing repertoire that pays homage to the legacy of the string quartet while looking ahead to the future of chamber music through frequent collaborations and commissions of new work. The Miró Quartet have just completed a 16-year project to record all 16 of Beethoven’s String Quartets and this concert features Beethoven’s last quartet, in fact, his last major work, String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135. Also on the program, Miró Quartet partners with cellist Colin Carr to perform Schubert’s sublime String Quintet in C Major D. 956. Violin Sonatas: Part 3 Monday, July 27 at 7:30 p.m.