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Browsing: Strings

Photo: Tam Photography

Noémie Raymond-Friset: Beyond the Printed Score

By Madeline Boldt on 31 January 2025 Classical, Classical Music, Contemporary, Montreal, Piano, Strings

To cellist Noémie Raymond-Friset, music is just as much about heart as it is about technique. For her, the cello is a means of forging profound connections—with collaborators, audiences, and even communities worlds away. Born to music-loving parents who filled her early life with the sounds of Bach suites, Raymond-Friset picked up the violin at the age of four. But it was the cello that resonated with her three years later. “I found my instrument,” she recalls. “Something about the tone, the sound, and the register really spoke to me.” In her early career, mentors like violinist superstars Midori and…

Julian Armour & Guylaine Lemaire: Finding Balance

By Kaitlyn Chan on 31 January 2025 Arts Industry, Classical Music, Interviews, Multimedia, Orchestral, Ottawa, Strings

This February, renowned musicians and artistic leaders Julian Armour and Guylaine Lemaire celebrate 20 years of marriage. The Ottawa-based couple have contributed significantly to the Canadian music scene for decades now as both performers and arts administrators. Amidst all this busyness, Armour and Lemaire are also the proud parents of four boys. Armour and Lemaire wear several hats in their professional lives. Armour is the artistic and executive director of Music and Beyond, artistic director of the Chamber Players of Canada, principal cellist of the chamber orchestra Thirteen Strings, and teaches at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University. Retired…

Chor Leoni. Photo: Emily Cooper

Review | Christmas with Chor Leoni Brings Holiday Magic to the Heart of Vancouver

By Kaitlyn Chan on 20 December 2024 Choral, Classical Music, Concert Reviews, Piano, Strings, Vancouver, Violin, Vocal, West

Amidst the bustle of the holiday season, Chor Leoni ushered audience members into the serene atmosphere of St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church for their annual Christmas concert on Dec 19. The space was lit with reds, blues, and purples while golden lanterns hung from the ceiling. The beauty of the church was highlighted under this unique lighting, creating an almost fantasy effect within the large arches. Lighting designer Keagan Elrick had set the stage for the magical evening welcoming Chor Leoni’s largest-ever opening night audience. The first song of the evening was “The Long Night” arranged by founding member, Artistic Director,…

Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason in Koerner Hall, May 2022. Photo: Lisa Sakulensky Photography

Air Canada denies Sheku Kanneh-Mason & cello boarding forcing new RCM date

By Newswire on 12 December 2024 Classical Music, Newswire, Piano, Strings, Toronto

In an unfortunate incident on December 11, celebrated British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason was denied boarding on an Air Canada flight with his cello. This resulted in him and his sister, pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, missing a sold-out concert at The Royal Conservatory of Music’s Koerner Hall, which was to take place that evening. The Kanneh-Masons issued the following statement on December 11: Dear everyone, We are deeply sad to not be able to perform for you this evening. We had severe misfortune with the flights today, including a cancelled flight and denial of boarding with cello on another. We really value all of your…

Lebrecht Weekly | David Oistrakh: The Warner Remastered Edition (58CDs, 3DVDs)

By Norman Lebrecht on 6 December 2024 Lebrecht Weekly, Violin

Where has my week gone? Much of it was spent plundering a coffin of one of the most captivating violinists that ever lived. David Oistrakh, Odessa born (thus Ukrainian-rather than Russian-Jewish), set the tone for violin playing in the Soviet era. Not just in his own performances but in those of his Moscow students who included Oleg Kagan, Gidon Kremer, Lydia Mordkovich, Nina Belina, Stoika Milanova, Rimma Sushanskaya and many more, not to mention his own distinguished son, Igor. Maintaining a distinctive individualism in an authoritarian state, he taught young musicians to find their own path to the variable meanings…

Fred Lambert Photo: Brent Calis

Frédéric Lambert: Teaching Students how to Teach Themselves

By Heather Weinreb on 8 November 2024 Arts Industry, Classical Music, Education, Montreal, Strings

The ancient Chinese proverb—“Give a man a fish and you can feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you can feed him for a lifetime”—is also true for music. For Frédéric Lambert, viola/violin professor at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and assistant viola professor at McGill University, viola teaching is all about fostering musical independence. “Your future teacher is you,” he says. Lambert’s approach to teaching is modelled after his own mentor, André Roy, whom he studied with at McGill University for 10 years. From his bachelor’s through to his doctorate, Roy always made sure…

Angèle Dubeau. Photo: Jocelyn Michel

Injury Forces Violinist Angèle Dubeau to End Career

By Newswire on 23 October 2024 Classical Music, Newswire, Strings, Violin

Statement from Ms. Angèle Dubeau October 23, 2024 – “For as long as I can remember, music has been a part of my life. Through it, I expressed myself, traveled, and found daily nourishment. My violin has been a faithful companion since the age of four. It colored my world and, even more than words, became my primary means of expression. However, I now find myself having to learn how to live without my violin. With a heavy heart, I must accept that I can no longer physically play it. My right hand, specifically my index finger—the master of the…

Free Music Lessons with Two Cellists of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra

By Newswire on 22 October 2024 Classical Music, Montreal, Newswire, Strings

Montreal Symphony Orchestra cellists Genevieve Guimond and Gary Russell are excited to announce they are accepting new students this January! The Montreal Cello Ensemble offers intensive music training to talented Montreal children, with a focus on breaking financial barriers to ensure access to high-quality music education. Every child admitted into the program receives either a full or partial scholarship that includes instruction, the use of an instrument, and accessories. No prior musical experience is necessary. In fact, almost all of the students they admit have no prior musical training. The application deadline for this unique opportunity is December 20th, 2024.…

Lebrecht Weekly | Diyang Mei plays Bowen and Walton’s Viola Concertos Like Heifetz on Roller-Skates

By Norman Lebrecht on 18 October 2024 CD and Book Reviews, Lebrecht Weekly, Strings

It is nothing short of a scandal that not one concerto for viola and orchestra has broken into the standard concerthall repertoire. There are at least fifty violin concertos that get regularly played and half a dozen for cello and orchestra. Yet, among a plethora of viola concertos by good composers – from Arnold to Bartok, Schnittke to John Williams – not one gets as much as a half-chance for public attention. In any other field, this would be considered illegal discrimination. The present release is a dazzling ear-opener. York Bowen, slightly younger than Ralph Vaughan Williams, was a shy chap…

Photo: George Garnier

Lebrecht Weekly | Doric String Quartet Strikes a Perfect Balance Between Beethoven’s Early Quartets and Later Milestones

By Norman Lebrecht on 11 October 2024 CD and Book Reviews, Chamber Music, Lebrecht Weekly, Strings

The fashion these days is to remix the 16 Beethoven quartets, selecting one from each period – early, middle and late – in concert and record cycles. It doesn’t always work, but the latest release from the Doric String Quartet, a mid-career UK ensemble, strikes a perfect balance between two of the opus 18 quartets and major milestones from later on. Opus 18/2 in G major is one of Beethoven’s invitations to the dance, a proposition more in the mind than on the floor. Opus 18/5 in A is all in the mind, one of his most self-contemplative works, so…