Classical

The core group of the Rebelheart Collective consists of highly trained professional musicians. The group is flexible in size depending on the project. Other members include high-level student and graduates who want to work on building careers as a professional orchestral musician and community activist. They combine classical repertoire with new music, engaging with composers and collaborators from varied backgrounds.

A seasoned road warrior whose full-time touring schedule dates back to her days in Canadian rock band The Joys, Sarah continues to feel most at home on-stage. She plays nearly 300 shows per year, primarily in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Along the way, she has shared the stage with artists including Melissa Etheridge, Sass Jordan, Emm Gryner, Craig Cardiff, Joel Plaskett, David Wilcox, and many others. Whether it’s just her and her acoustic guitar or her full band, she is a mesmerizing performer. The 2015 DVD Sarah Smith: Plugged and Unplugged captures Sarah and her band in peak form, both live and in the studio.

El Sistema Aeolian Performs a selection of orchestral and choral music, form classical mainstays to seasonal favourites.

Selections include Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, hits from A Charlie Brown Christmas, and a Symphonic Orchestra version of Beethoven's Ode to Joy theme from his 9th Symphony!

Doors Open at 6, Donations greatly appreciated!

The Aeolian is proud to present our first El Sistema Concert of 2018.  Join us at our Education Campus @Cronyn and enjoy performances from our string orchestras and choirs.  This performance will feature the very first performance of the El Sistema Symphony Orchestra!

Our participants will be presented a wide variety of musical selections, from Pop, Folk Song, and Classical.  Both the senior choir and orchestra will be performing Jordanian-inspired works as we explore music from around the world.

Attendance is free and donations are gratefully accepted.

The Aeolian is proud to present our El Sistema Concert Holiday concert.  Celebrate the festive season with as at our Education Campus @Cronyn and enjoy performances from our string orchestras and choirs.

Our participants will be presented a wide variety of musical selections, reflecting different aspects of the season.  You won't want to miss the combined forces of over 70 El Sistema Participants as they join together for the show's finale!

Attendance is free and donations are gratefully accepted.

Led by pianist/artistic director Catherine Wilson, Toronto’s Ensemble Vivant continues to receive international accolades and is a favorite wherever the group performs. Since its inception over thirty years ago, "Canada's Chamber Music Treasure" (Toronto Star) has been a pioneer, championing exciting, innovative programming that ranges from classical to Latin jazz and tango.  EV is known for its depth of artistry, passionate performances and engaging stage presence.  Canadian music icon Rick Wilkins raves: “This is the highest-level chamber music-making.  No matter the genre, there is magic in Ensemble Vivant’s music-making.”

For Ensemble Vivant’s latest TD Sunfest date, the group will be augmented by jazz greats Mike Murley (tenor & soprano sax), Kevin Turcotte (flugel horn/trumpet) and Barry Elmes (percussion) in an eclectic program that features selections by Astor Piazzolla, Leroy Anderson, Charlie Chaplin and more.  The concert celebrates the release of a brand new CD-DVD (EV’s 13th recording) of the Tribute to Rick Wilkins performance captured last spring at Grace Church on the Hill in Toronto.  Special guests for that occasion included Guido Basso (flugelhorn, trumpet), Mike Murley (sax) and Brian Barlow (drums & percussion).  The DVD portion of this new release was directed and edited by London, Ontario-based Darryl Lahteenmaa.

Ensemble Vivant is dedicated to fostering a love of great music among our youth. Through the not-for-profit charity EUTERPE (named after the Greek Muse of Music), the musicians enrich the lives of children and others on multiple levels.  Catherine Wilson’s research on “Music and Healing,” for which she received her Ph.D., supports Euterpe’s initiatives, which have also been endorsed by the scientific community.  Thanks to EUTERPE’s support, EV + guests will be performing a special children’s concert on March 23rd at 1:00 PM at Woodland Heights Public School.

RICK WILKINS, C.M.

Hamilton-born Rick Wilkins, C.M. is one of Canada’s most accomplished saxophonists and a world-renowned arranger, composer, conductor and performer.  Throughout his career, Rick has worked with a variety of music legends, including Oscar Peterson, Anne Murray, The Boss Brass, Burton Cummings, Wayne and Schuster, Peggy Lee, Celine Dion, Oliver Jones, Guido Basso, Julie Amato and Tommy Ambrose.

Rick enjoyed major success in the world of radio and television, creating music for programs on CBC TV and Radio, as well as on CTV.  He was music director for a CBS television series and several specials starring The Jackson Five.  Also, he conducted a portion of the opening ceremonies of the Calgary Olympics and served as music director for the gala opening of Toronto’s SkyDome (now Rogers Centre).  In addition, Rick rescored the ‘Hockey Night in Canada’ theme and wrote the theme for CBC’s ‘The National’.

Less well known is that, for close to three decades, Rick Wilkins and Ensemble Vivant have enjoyed a rich musical collaboration and friendship.  From the outset, Rick championed the group’s artistry, sensitive musicality and diverse range of styles & genres. Ensemble Vivant’s Tribute to Rick Wilkins gives a glimpse into the wealth of inspired repertoire that he’s written and, in earlier days, produced for them.  Rick is an honorary board member of Euterpe: his advocacy for the charity has deep roots as he recalls how music inspired him in his youth and how it became his life.

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) is a composer most often associated with Impressionistic Music.

He is one of the most influential composers of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries and continues to have a big influence on modern day composers. Debussy was greatly influenced by the exotic and found great delight in the music and culture presented at the International Exhibition Universelle in Paris (1889). Debussy heard Javanese Gamelan music during this Exhibition and incorporated gamelan scales, melodies, rhythms and ensemble textures into some of his compositions.

This first recital in the series will feature works composed in Debussy’s early period. Some date to his time spent in Russia accompanying Tchaikowsky’s patroness Nadezhda Von Meck (1880-1882).

Many of these early works have become some of the most celebrated popular classical music. This is a program of romantic, exuberant and magical music. At the heart of this program is the famed “Clair de Lune”, one of the most performed works of classical music in the world today.

Program:
Deux Arabesque
Reverie
Suite Bergamasque
Danse
Ballade
Nocturne
Pour Le Piano

Mark your calendars for Part 2 of The Complete Piano Works of Claude Debussy which will happen on March 6, 2018!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YioJWcCWxzk&feature=youtu.be

Spain has a rich history of diverse cultures and religions. From the 8th to the 15th centuries Spain was struggling between Muslim and Christian domination. The Moorish/Muslim culture from the north of Africa left a great legacy in Spain greatly influencing its musical tapestry.

If one thinks about modern day Spain, with its Moorish Palaces, Bull Fights and Passionate Ardour, it is certainly a place that hold the tension between conquest and love. Spanish music reflects these contrasts and is extremely exotic when compared to other European music traditions.

This program will feature music by composers from Spain or influenced by Spanish culture. Works by De Falla, Albeniz and Piazzolla will be featured. Come out and enjoy the heat, passion and energy of this unique culture.

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Clark Bryan

Clark was born in Simcoe Ontario into a musical family. His mother, a piano teacher and his grandparents both singers inspired Clark to choose a pathway of music as a profession. Clark began formal studies at age four and wrote his first compositions at age six.

In his youth, Mr. Bryan trained with longtime pupil of the renowned pianist Géza Anda, Antonia Mazanova. She helped him gain an appreciation for music of all styles. Mr. Bryan did his formal training at the University of Western Ontario.  In 1992 he graduated with both Bachelor and Masters Degrees in piano performance.

Mr. Bryan has worked with many of the world’s renowned pianists including Howard Shelley, Jean Paul, Sevilla, Eugene List, Shura Cherkasky, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Ruth Slenczynska and Ronald Turini. Mr. Bryan spent many years working with the celebrated pianist Cécile Ousset both in Paris and the south of France where he refined much of his pianistic and interpretive abilities.

Clark’s performance career has taken him to Europe, Mexico the United States and throughout Canada. He has done performances for CBC radio and television including a broadcast recital in 2002 at the Glenn Gould Studio, CBC. He has adjudicated music festivals from St. John’s to Vancouver.  Mr. Bryan has done extensive music editing including the New Millennium Piano Series for Conservatory Canada.  A recent project of note is a book entitled:  “Gateways to Learning and Memory” published in 2009.

Mr. Bryan has recorded eleven albums of solo piano and a duo piano album of the Suites for two pianos by Serge Rachmaninoff with duo partner Marion Miller.  His most recent recordings include the complete Chopin Nocturnes.

In 2004-2005 Mr. Bryan was invited by London’s City Council to serve as a member of the Creative Cities Task Force, an initiative designed to recognize and promote art, culture and lifestyle in London, Ontario.

Mr. Bryan received the “Special Teacher” award 2004 given by the London Branch of the Ontario Registered Music Teacher’s Association and has been nominated four times for a Jack Richardson music award.  He has done workshops for piano teachers and musicians throughout Canada.  January 2005, Mr. Bryan was named Musical Personality of the Year by the London Free Press.  Mr. Bryan is current the President of the London Branch of the Ontario Registered Music Teachers Association.  Mr. Bryan was honoured to have been invited to give a TED talk for TEDxUWO in March of 2010 at The Grand Theatre in London Ontario and has also recently been guest lecturer at The University of Western Ontario for the International Leading Music Educator’s Conference.  He has also presented at King’s College UWO in a SPARKS conference, for the City of London at an “Ignite Culture” presentation and at “City Symposium”, London Ontario.

In 2004, Mr. Bryan purchased the Aeolian Performing Arts Centre and School of Music, a magnificent acoustic marvel in London, Ontario. This hall was built in 1883 as the Town Hall for East London and has a rich musical history. In 2009 he shifted the governance of the Aeolian into a registered chariy.  The Hall was  awarded “Best Live Venue in London” (Jack Richardson Music Awards)three times and “Top 10 Venues in Canada” (CBC radio 3).  In April 2011, Mr. Bryan was awarded a Jack Richardson Music Award in the “Contributor” category for his contributions to the musical landscape in the London Community.  In 2011, Mr. Bryan launched El Sistema at the Aeolian, a free UNESCO award winning music program for children and youth.  In January 2016, Mr. Bryan with the approval of his Board of Directors open a new education campus at Bishop Cronyn Memorial Place.  This new home for the El Sistema Aeolian program will also include many other educational programs soon to be implemented.  This new facility also includes a beautiful historic church facility for more artistic presentation.

MARION MILLER began piano at four, was teaching at twelve, and entered the University of Western Ontario at 16, graduating with a Master’s degree in piano performance and the President’s Gold Medal for academic excellence. Canada Council Arts Grants subsequently enabled her to study in Paris with Marcel Ciampi. Other teachers included Cecile Genhart in Zurich and Ozan Marsh in Chautauqua.

She has soloed with orchestras in Canada and the U.S., and recorded several CBC programs. Long a member of Orchestra London, she now focuses primarily on chamber music with numerous  friends, most frequently piano duet partner Clark Bryan.  She has twice been a London Music Award nominee for Best Classical Artist, but has excelled in other genres as well, having put herself through university partly by playing in a professional swing band, and over the years gaining a varied background in musical theatre.

She has taught in university, conservatory and festival settings, and adjudicated music festivals from coast to coast. She maintains a consistently full studio of private piano students ranging from young beginners to adults, with whom her priority is always to emphasize expressiveness.

All proceeds from the concert will go to El Sistema Aeolian. El Sistema Aeolian is part of a global movement designed to offer free iniversal access to an intesive collaborative music program. There are millions of participants in over 80 countries and the program has spread across Canada quickly. Canadian Provincial and National Associations are forming. Our local program offers five days of instruction to our participants including orchestra, choir and piano lessons. Meals and snacks are also provided. Our participants give approximately 10-20 concerts per year in various settings.

Piano: Marion Miller
Violin: Gillian Carrabre
Viola: Katie McBean
Cello: Adrian Wright

PROGRAM

Ástor Piazzolla, The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires For Violin, Cello & Piano

Francis Poulenc Sonata for Piano & Violoncello

Interval 

Gabriel Faure Piano Quartet No.1 op.15

MARION MILLER: 

MARION MILLER began piano at four, was teaching at twelve, and entered the University of Western Ontario at 16, graduating with a Master’s degree in piano performance and the President’s Gold Medal for academic excellence. Canada Council Arts Grants subsequently enabled her to study in Paris with Marcel Ciampi. Other teachers included Cecile Genhart in Zurich and Ozan Marsh in Chautauqua.

She has soloed with orchestras in Canada and the U.S., and recorded several CBC programs. Long a member of Orchestra London, she now focuses primarily on chamber music with numerous  friends, most frequently piano duet partner Clark Bryan.  She has twice been a London Music Award nominee for Best Classical Artist, but has excelled in other genres as well, having put herself through university partly by playing in a professional swing band, and over the years gained a varied background in musical theatre.

She has taught in university, conservatory and festival settings, and adjudicated music festivals from coast to coast. She maintains a consistently full studio of private piano students ranging from young beginners to adults, with whom her priority is always to emphasize expressiveness.

GILLIAN CARRABRE: 

Violinist, M Gillian Carrabré, has cultivated a diverse career that includes both popular and classical music projects. A graduate of performance programs at Mount Royal (Dip.), McGill (BMus), and the University of Ottawa (MMus) respectively, she is currently in her fourth and final year of a PhD in Musicology at the University of Western Ontario. Ms. Carrabré’s extensive orchestral experience includes: two National Youth Orchestra of Canada tours (2006, 2011); Concertmaster of the University of Calgary, University of Ottawa, and University of Ottawa Opera Orchestras; Associate Concertmaster of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra; alongside positions in the McGill Symphony Orchestra, the Brandon Chamber Players and as a substitute for the National Arts Center Orchestra.

Ms. Carrabré’s work as an academic developed from her fascination with electronic dance music. Her dissertation topic in Canadian rave music and culture has led to numerous conference presentations including MUSCAN, Stony Brook University, Ncounters, and more recently for the upcoming IASPM Canada conference in May. She will complete her PhD in 2018.

For the past year, Ms. Carrabré has also been the director and host of a radio show on CHRW in London, ON called Elektribe. which features the work of DJs, producers, and singer-songwriters involved in the Canadian electronic dance music scene. Elektribe was conceived initially as a fan (maga)“zine” featuring articles on the Canadian rave scene and can be viewed online. In June of this year, Elektribe will release a YouTube channel presenting interviews and live performances from Canadian artists.

ADRIAN WRIGHT

​Adrian now plays as a freelance cellist with the Windsor Symphony and was a regular extra cellist with Orchestra London, now playing with the newly formed London Symphonia. He has played in Musicals at the Grand Theater most years since moving to Canada, something new and very rewarding for him. He enjoys playing in many permanent and ad hoc chamber ensembles which, along with teaching, provide untold opportunities for growth for any player. Of particular significance for him was the three years of playing with the Aeolian Trio, a group brought together by Clark O’Brian in 2012. Mary Beth Brown and Marion Miller were wonderful chamber music partners and taught him so much. His other chamber music partners, both in the community and at Western, are too numerous to mention, but all have been a huge part of his musical and social life. He teaches a cello pedagogy class at UWO as a part time lecturer in the Education Faculty, offers Sectional and Chamber Music Coaching in Ontario and has his own Private Cello studio. After a gap of three years due to ill health he is delighted to be back at El Sistema Aeolian on the teaching staff. Every day there since restarting in January 2017 has been a joy.  Adrian joined the Early Music Studio at Western for 2015 – 16 to meet a shortfall. He found this to be an inspiration and has continued to develop this new, or should I say old, approach to earlier musics.

After three years with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain from 1976 at the age of 16 and then three years at the Royal Academy, in London UK, the major part of Adrian Wright's work as a cellist was spent as a member of the National Orchestra of Wales in Cardiff, U.K. The broad repertoire of a BBC orchestra and significant resources of the BBC made this an interesting time. During his years in the U.K., Adrian was able to work with a number of orchestras on a freelance basis. He himself has mainly a classical musical education. However, he now plays a variety of musical styles, courtesy of the theatre and other performing opportunities. In his teaching, he frequently uses his own arrangement of Musicals, Pop Tunes, or Disney tunes, where the student is interested. He believes that the students should all  have the freedom to play a wide variety of music and is a keen believer in aural as well as notational learning. He firmly believes that all students of string instruments benefit hugely from understanding the simple physiology and physics behind what they do. It quite simply makes sense and therefore “Makes Easy”, allowing the student to become her own teacher. He would like to acknowledge a huge debt to Alexander Method in this regard, informing both his playing and his teaching. This latter is now available to music students at Western, a hugely welcome development.

An invitation.

If anyone here plays a musical instrument, particularly (but not only) strings at this stage, do feel free to email me. I am looking to set up a simple way for people to form their own small ensembles, maybe through a Facebook Group. Just an easy way to contact others who may be seeking the same thing. If you are older there is no reason not to start “social music making”, if you are about to leave school there is reason to stop playing! At any level, at any time. A bold claim: It could add years to your life, enriched years at that. We are raising money for El Sistema because all children deserve active music in their life. We want it to be lifelong, for them, for you.

adrian.wright60@gmail.com

Rebelheart Collective kicks off its season with a diverse program including music by  Czech and Roumanian composers, a Canadian composition inspired by First Nations legend and other chamber music treasures.

Dvorak’s American Quartet was composed in 1893 in a record 16 days! Inspired by American folk music, this work has become one of the most popular in the chamber music repertoire. Written in the Czech immigrant community of Spillville, Iowa, this work features the song of the Scarlet Tanager, an American songbird.

Enesco’s Octet Op.7 was completed in 1900. Enesco remarked about this work: “An engineer launching his first suspension bridge over a river, could not feel more anxiety than I felt when I set out to darken my paper.” This work was not premiered until 1909 as it was deemed by an impresario as “too risky”.

Also on the program are two works by the renowned Canadian composer Kevin Lau.  An active film composer, conductor, pianist and arranger, Mr. Lau is in high demand and has been called “a self-assured voice” with “masterful control over his idiom”.

This event is FREE to everyone, donations greatly appreciated (tax receipts given to donations that are $25+).