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Canadian Classical Music
In Canada, classical music includes a range of musical styles rooted in the traditions of Western or European classical music that European settlers brought to the country from the 17th century and onwards. As well, it includes musical styles brought by other ethnic communities from the 19th century and onwards, such as Indian classical music (Hindustani and Carnatic music) and Chinese classical music. Since Canada's emergence as a nation in 1867, the country has produced its own composers, musicians and ensembles. As well, it has developed a music infrastructure that includes training institutions, conservatories, performance halls, and a public radio broadcaster, CBC, which programs a moderate amount of Classical music. There is a high level of public interest in classical music and education. Canada has produced a number of respected ensembles, including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, as well as a number of well-known Baroque orchestras and c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Classical Music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also applies to non-Western art music. Classical music is often characterized by formality and complexity in its musical form and harmonic organization, particularly with the use of polyphony. Since at least the ninth century it has been primarily a written tradition, spawning a sophisticated notational system, as well as accompanying literature in analytical, critical, historiographical, musicological and philosophical practices. A foundational component of Western Culture, classical music is frequently seen from the perspective of individual or groups of composers, whose compositions, personalities and beliefs have fundamentally shaped its history. Rooted in the patronage of churches and royal courts in Western Europe, survivin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Somers
Harry Stewart Somers, CC (September 11, 1925 – March 9, 1999) was a contemporary Canadian composer. Possessing a charismatic attitude and rather dashing good looks, as well as a genuine talent for his art, Somers earned the unofficial title of "Darling of Canadian Composition." A truly patriotic artist, Somers was engaged in many national projects over the course his lifetime. He was a founding member of the Canadian League of Composers (CLC) and involved in the formation of other Canadian music organizations, including the Canada Council for the Arts and the Canadian Music Centre. He frequently received commissions from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Canada Council for the Arts. Biography Early life Somers was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on September 11, 1925. Unlike most composers, Somers did not become involved in formal musical study until he reached his teenage years in 1939 when he met his wife, a doctor who was also an accomplished amateu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis Quilico
Louis Quilico, (January 14, 1925 – July 15, 2000) was a Canadian opera singer. One of the leading dramatic baritones of his day, he was an ideal interpreter of the great Italian and French composers, especially Giuseppe Verdi. He was often referred to as "Mr Rigoletto" in reference to the Verdi opera. During his 45-year-long career he shared performing credits with opera's greatest stars. He spent 25 consecutive years at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. After his retirement from the stage in 1998 he continued to perform and record, most often with his second wife, pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico, , with whom he made four CDs. The couple also toured together extensively in concerts until Quilico's death in 2000. Quilico received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts, in November 1999 for his lifetime contribution to classical music. Biography Quilico made his professional debut in 1954 as Rangoni in '' B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lois Marshall
Lois Catherine Marshall, CC (January 29, 1924 – February 19, 1997) was a Canadian soprano. Her husband, Weldon Kilburn, had been her early coach and piano accompanist. Early life and studies; awards Born in Toronto, Ontario, Marshall "began voice studies at age 12 with Weldon Kilburn (at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto), her accompanist and coach until 1971 and to whom she was eventually married in 1968." Lois Marshall was a graduate of the University of Toronto. In 1968, Marshall was invested as a Companion of the Order of Canada but was, over her long career, the recipient of many other honours and awards, such as the University of Alberta National Award in Music (1962), the Centennial Medal (1967), a Canada Music Council Medal (1972), the Ontario Arts Council Medal of Excellence (1973), the Molson Prize (1980), the Toronto Arts Award for music (1987), a Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement (1993) and the Order of Ontario (19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierrette Alarie
Pierrette Alarie, (November 9, 1921 – July 10, 2011) was a French Canadian coloratura soprano. She was married to the French-Canadian tenor Léopold Simoneau. Life and career Born in Montreal, Quebec, Alarie was the daughter of a choirmaster, assistant conductor of the ''Société Canadienne d'opérettes'', and of a soprano and actress. She studied voice and acting early and performed on radio from the age of 9, first as an actress and later as a singer of popular music. While studying voice with Victor Issaurel, she made her debut in 1938 at ''Les Variétés lyriques'' in the operetta '' The White Horse Inn''. She also sang Marie in ''La fille du régiment'' and the lead role in '' Mireille''. On a scholarship she went to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia to complete her studies with Elisabeth Schumann. Alarie won the ''Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air'' and made her Metropolitan Opera debut on December 8, 1945, as Oscar in ''Un ballo in maschera'' unde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George London (bass-baritone)
George London (born George Burnstein; May 30, 1920 – March 24, 1985) was an American concert and operatic bass-baritone. Biography George Burnstein was born to U.S. naturalized parents of Russian origin in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and grew up in Los Angeles, California. His operatic debut was in 1941 as George Burnson, singing Dr Grenvil in ''La traviata'' at the Hollywood Bowl. In the summer of 1945 Antal Doráti invited his longtime friend, the Hungarian bass Mihály Székely, to sing at the first concert of the newly reorganized Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Due to travel difficulties, Székely was unable to arrive in time, so Doráti called upon young George London as a substitute. After performing widely with tenor Mario Lanza and soprano Frances Yeend as part of the Bel Canto Trio in 1947–48, London was engaged by the Vienna State Opera, where he scored his first major success in 1949. In 1950, he sang the role of Pater Profundis in Mahler's Eighth Symphony, conducte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canadians
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''Canadian''. Canada is a multilingual and multicultural society home to people of groups of many different ethnic, religious, and national origins, with the majority of the population made up of Old World immigrants and their descendants. Following the initial period of French and then the much larger British colonization, different waves (or peaks) of immigration and settlement of non-indigenous peoples took place over the course of nearly two centuries and continue today. Elements of Indigenous, French, British, and more recent immigrant customs, languages, and religions have combined to form the culture of Canada, and thus a Canadian identity. Canada has also been strongly influenced by its linguistic, geographic, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Portia White
Portia May White (June 24, 1911February 13, 1968) was a Canadian contralto, known for becoming the first Black Canadian concert singer to achieve international fame. Growing up as part of her father's church choir in Halifax, Nova Scotia, White competed in local singing competitions as a teenager and later trained at the Halifax Conservatory of Music. In 1941 and 1944, she made her national and international debuts as a singer, receiving critical acclaim for her performances of both classical European music and African-American spirituals. White later completed tours throughout Europe, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. When vocal difficulties and cancer eventually contributed to her retirement in 1952, White settled in Toronto and subsequently taught young Canadian musicians such as Lorne Greene, Dinah Christie, Don Francks, Robert Goulet and Anne Marie Moss. One of White's final major public appearances was a special command performance for Queen Elizabeth II and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bertha May Crawford
Bertha May Crawford (June 20, 1886 - May 26, 1937) was a Canadian opera singer. She built an international reputation as a lyric coloratura soprano in the early 20th century in eastern Europe, performing prima donna roles with opera companies in Russia and Poland between 1914 and 1934. At her death in 1937, music critics considered her the most distinguished soprano produced in that century in Canada.Canadian Prima Donna Dead. (1937, May 29). ''The Leader Post'', Regina, Saskatchewan, p.2. She is remembered as having "a high lyric soprano of great beauty and agility" and was best known for her performances as Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Violetta in La traviata, and Gilda in Rigoletto.McPherson, James B. "Crawford, Bertha".''The Encyclopedia of Music in Canada''. Early days in Canada Crawford was born in the small rural community of Elmvale, Ontario in 1886, the second daughter of John Crawford, a tailor of Scottish Presbyterian descent, and Maud Robertson. She grew up singin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sallie Holman
Sallie Holman (June 24, 1849 – June 7, 1888) was a Canadian opera singer. Born in Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by Eu ..., she was the daughter of George W. Holman and Harriet Phillips, and was the principal singer in an English opera troupe, the Holman English Opera Troupe, formed by her father in the 1860s composed of her father, mother, and her siblings. The company toured the eastern United States and Canada from the late 1850s to the early 1880s. She married Mr. J.T. Dalton, a member of the company, in 1879. She died on June 7, 1888. References External links * 1849 births 1888 deaths 19th-century Canadian women opera singers Canadian operatic sopranos People from Lynn, Massachusetts {{Canada-opera-singer-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill around which the early city of Ville-Marie is built. The city is centred on the Island of Montreal, which obtained its name from the same origin as the city, and a few much smaller peripheral islands, the largest of which is Île Bizard. The city is east of the national capital Ottawa, and southwest of the provincial capital, Quebec City. As of 2021, the city had a population of 1,762,949, and a metropolitan population of 4,291,732, making it the second-largest city, and second-largest metropolitan area in Canada. French is the city's official language. In 2021, it was spoken at home by 59.1% of the population and 69.2% in the Montreal Census Metropolitan Area. Overall, 85.7% of the population of the city of Montreal co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
