Events

World’s Apart Music of the Cold War Era

May 25th; 7:30pm - Walter Hall, Edward Johnson, Building, Faculty of Music, University of Toronto

Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building, 80 Queen's Park, Toronto, ON

U of T presents Christina Petrowska Quilico, piano
May 25, 2024 | 7:30 PM
  • Starting at: $30.00
  • Venue: Walter Hall
  • Genre: New Music, Piano
  • Presenter: University of Toronto Faculty of Music
Christina Petrowska Quilico has been appointed to the Order of Canada, the Order of Ontario, and the Royal Society of Canada for her interpretations of contemporary Canadian music. The Canadian Encyclopedia calls Christina Petrowska Quilico “one of Canada’s most celebrated pianists. [She is] a noted champion of Canadian composers.“ ​ “An extraordinary talent with phenomenal ability… dazzling virtuosity," — The New York Times. All-Canadian Program: Larysa Kuzmenko: Victims of Chernobyl Larysa Kuzmenko: Dance Diabolique David Jaeger: Lament for the People of Ukraine Ruth Schonthal: The Canticles of Hieronymus Oskar Morawetz: Suite for Piano Peter Paul Koprowski: Rhapsody on a Theme of Brahms   https://youtu.be/XiLAF3xA7jI?feature=shared   Over the course of her career, Christina has amassed many of Canada’s highest honours. She was appointed to the Order of Canada “for her celebrated career as a classical and contemporary pianist, and for championing Canadian music,” and to the Order of Ontario“for opening the ears of music lovers through her performances, recordings and teaching.” She was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada, “the country’s highest honour an individual can achieve in the Arts, Social Sciences and Sciences.”  She received Awards from the Canadian Music Award and Canadian League of Composers, selected as one of the CMC’s Ambassadors of Canadian music and recently awarded 3 consecutive York University Research Awards.  The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation named her one of “one of “Canada’s 25 best classical pianists” and inducted her into CBC’s “In Concert Hall of Fame”. Four of her 50 plus CDs have earned JUNO Awards nominations and two of her CDs debuted in Outerspace with astronaut Steve Maclean on the Columbia and Atlantis shuttles. She was recently honored with the prestigious Oskar Morawetz Prize. The award jurors stated that Christina Petrowska Quilico “has made an astonishing contribution to musical life in Canada.” As they remarked: “Christina is a champion of Canadian composers – and her pioneering dedication to Canadian female composers is especially noteworthy. She has helped to secure this period of Canadian music through her impressive catalogue of recordings, and further through the ripple effect of her many students. She is steadfast. She is legend.” Following studies at Juilliard, the Sorbonne in Paris, Darmstadt and Berlin with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Gyǒrgy Ligeti, Pierre Boulez coached her in two of his sonatas, which are featured on her Navona Album Sound Visionaries (“This primer of twentieth century French piano music gets better with each repeated listen.” – Pianomania, Singapore). She has concertized widely, performing more than 53 concertos – from Bach and Haydn to present-day composers – with orchestras across Canada and in the U.S., and in Greece and Taipei. Besides those countries, solo recitals have taken her to England, France, Germany, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. Reviews described her as a “piano wizard” (Take Effect reviews) and “the towering Canadian piano virtuoso” (The WholeNote), “commanding pianism” (American Record Guide), “intelligent programme” (Gramophone), and her “ability to leave a permanent impression on the listener’s soul” (Sonograma Magazine, Barcelona). Her three solo albums on Navona received enthusiastic reviews, with Vintage Americana making a number of 2021’s best-of lists in Canada and abroad. She was also featured on Parisa Sabet’s A Cup of Sins (Redshift Records) and recorded  Alice Ping Yee Ho’s solo piano album Blaze on Centrediscs, Shadow & Light, three double concertos by Ho, Larysa Kuzmenko, Christos Hatzis recorded with violinist Marck Djokic and Sinfonia Toronto. Quilico also performed Florence Price concerto and Witold Lutoslawski’s concerto and Paganini Variations with the Kindred Spirits Orchestra.   In addition to the recital at the MacMillan Theatre on Saturday, May 25th at 7:30 PM, a ticket grants access to the following conference and concert series. More information on Christina Petrowska Quilico’s recital and the accompanying academic conference can be found here: https://www.worldsapartjhi.com/ Please send questions about the recital and conference to Dr. Daniel Jordan at worldsapart.jhi@outlook.com.

https://www.rcmusic.com/events-and-performances/u-of-t-presents-worlds-apart

Games of the Night Wind CD launch

May 15th; 7:30pm - Canadian Music Centre

Chalmers Performance Space 20 St. Joseph Street Toronto, ON M4Y 1J9 Canada + Google Map Phone: 416-961-6601 x201

GAMES OF THE NIGHT WIND

12 NOCTURNES BY DAVID JAEGER
David Jaeger composer Tōru Takemitsu composer Alexandre Tansman composer Henryk Górecki composer Christina Petrowska Quilico piano
Release Date: May 10, 2024
Catalog #: NV6630
Format: Digital
21ST CENTURY
SOLO INSTRUMENTAL
PIANO
Described by the Oskar Morawetz Award jurors as a “legend” of Canadian musicians, Christina Petrowska Quilico joins lauded composer and champion of new music David Jaeger on GAMES OF THE NIGHT WIND, a dreamy musical landscape premiering 12 of Jaeger’s original nocturnes in addition to seven 20th century solo piano works. Each nocturne invokes a different spirit of the night: deception, memory, redemption, realization, and many more, each brought to fruition by Petrowska Quilico’s evocative musicality. Sharp staccato and an increasingly startled momentum drives the image of an encounter with the shadows in Nocturne 11, The Alarm Bell, a weighty contrast to the deep rubato and heaving nostalgia in Nocturne 1, In Memory Of  yet both hail from the same thematic darkness that expands across the entirety of the album. These sensations are ever present in Tōru Takemitsu’s starry Les yeux clos, Alexandre Tansman’s complex and lyrical nocturnes, and two works by Górecki, whose Lullaby sings GAMES OF THE NIGHT WIND off to sleep. GAMES OF THE NIGHT WIND plays to the unfettered wildness of the night, a force of nature encapsulated in every aspect of Petrowska Quilico and Jaeger’s musical and poetic collaboration, an elegant exploration for the night owl in us all.

Admission is free

Kindred Spirits Orchestra “War and Peace”

October 21st; 8:00pm - Flato Markham Theatre -

171 Town Centre Blvd, Markham, Ontario

Inspired by Maurice Maeternick’s essay “The Life of Bees”, Stravinsky’s Scherzo fantastique uses extensive chromatic constructs to depict life and activity in a hive of bees. For the 110th anniversary of the composers birth, [caption id="attachment_620" align="alignnone" width="300"]Christina Petrowska Quilico, piano with KSO Orchestra Christina Petrowska Quilico with the Kindred Spirits Orchestra[/caption] Liturgique” was composed shortly after the Second World War; with movements titled after liturgical topics, Honegger’s extensive commentary describes the work as a reflection on the horrors of war and the desire for peace.Kristian Alexander | conductor Christina Petrowska Quilico | pianist Daniel Vnukowski | host 7:10 p.m.   Prélude: pre-concert recital 7:20 p.m.   Pre-concert talk Intermission discussion and Q&A with Christina Petrowska Quilico and Daniel Vnukowski.War and Peace Post-concert reception

Christina & Louis Quilico Awards 2023

February 6th; 5:30pm - Four Seasons Performing Arts Centre

Queen and John Street, Toronto

Toronto, January 31, 2023 - The Ontario Arts Foundation is pleased to announce the sixth biennial Christina and Louis Quilico Awards, a vocal competition featuring the rising young stars of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio.  This event marks the 20th anniversary of the launch of the prize. The competition will take place on February 6, 2023 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, as part of the COC’s Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre Presented by TD Bank Group. The competition will be adjudicated by a panel composed of Perryn Leech, General Director of the Canadian Opera Company, Steven Philcox, Canadian collaborative pianist, and Carolyn Sproule, Canadian mezzo-soprano. The young artists featured in the February 6th competition will perform for cash prizes, singing one aria of their choice and another selected by the judges. “Louis had wanted to establish this (award) before he died,” says Christina Petrowska Quilico. “It was really his vision to help young opera singers. Launching an award was something we could do to leave a legacy in memory of Louis’ success as a singer and as a support to future generations.” Past winners include Rihab Chaieb (former member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Program and 2018 Operalia Third Prize winner), Emily D’Angelo (winner of the 2022 Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year – Solo Artist, 2016 Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition Finals, and 2018 Operalia winner of the First Prize, Zarzuela Prize, Birgit Nilsson Prize, and Audience Prize), and Claire de Sévigné (JUNO Award nominee for Classical Album of the Year). This event is free and open to the public, with doors opening at 5 p.m. Seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, and is limited.

Admission is free