February Concerts Announced at The Royal Conservatory Of Music

The popular concert series continues with a journey into the blues with Gerald Clayton, René Marie, and Friends on February 3. Clayton, whose music is steeped in the blues from the Carolinas, made his Koerner Hall debut on December 11, 2015, in the special Oscar @ 90 concert, which celebrated the 90th birthday of the legendary Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson (the entire concert is available on the "Live at Koerner Hall" page: https://www.rcmusic.ca/livestream).

René Marie's daring makes her one of America's most interesting and compelling artists. So do her influences: her style incorporates a distinctly American mélange of jazz, soul, blues, folk, and gospel, and an innate theatrical ability to interpret a song deeply and live its truth. Her successes in the jazz world include winning over critics, receiving awards such as the Best International Jazz Vocal CD from the French Academie du Jazz, gracing the Billboard charts multiple times, and becoming a headliner at major international festivals.

On Valentine's Day, February 14, English tenor Ian Bostridge and English pianist Julius Drake return to Koerner Hall for an all Franz Schubert program, including a selection of Goethe Lieder. After Mr. Bostridge's last appearance in the Hall in 2015, Tamara Bernstein wrote in The Globe and Mail: "I've heard Bostridge in several Canadian halls now - two of them excellent - but the Koerner Hall takes the cake. You felt that singer and hall were part of the same instrument - the hall a huge, wooden resonating chamber that allowed the singer to dare anything, even the softest pianissimos." Bostridge is well known for his performances as an opera singer and as a song recitalist. His international recital career has taken him to stages around the world, and his recordings have won all the major international record prizes and been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards. He is also an award-winning author, Guardian columnist, and Humanitas professor of classical music and music education at the University of Oxford. Drake enjoys an international reputation as one of the finest instrumentalists in his field, collaborating with many of the world's leading artists, both in recital and on disc. He returns later this season on April 22 with Canadian baritone Gerald Finley. The concert will be preceded by a pre-concert talk with Rick Phillips at 7pm.

Legendary pianist, conductor, and Ihnatowycz Chair in Piano at The Royal Conservatory, Leon Fleisher, represents the highest standard of musicianship as he celebrates his 90th birthday in 2018. On February 16, he leads The Glenn Gould School's Royal Conservatory Orchestra, widely regarded as an outstanding ensemble and one of the best training orchestras in North America, in a program of Beethoven's Overture to Egmont, Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs, (with soprano Jocelyn Fralick), and Sibelius's Symphony No. 1. The concert will be preceded by a prelude performance in Koerner Hall at 6:45pm and by a pre-concert talk at 7:15 with Gillian Story.

Invesco Piano Series

Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov returns for another sold out Koerner Hall concert on February 1. A sensation before he was 20, Trifonov has proven that he is more than just a young phenomenon and has become one of the most sought-after pianists of his generation. The New York Times praised him for his "scintillating technique and a virtuosic flair." The program includes works by Federico Mompou, Robert Schumann, Edvard Grieg, Samuel Barber, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninov, and Fryderyk Chopin.

Discovery Series

February 3 brings a wonderful opportunity to hear The Glenn Gould School's voice students in an evening of art songs and opera excerpts during the Glenn Gould School Vocal Showcase. The concert takes place in the intimate Mazzoleni Concert Hall located in the historic Ihnatowycz Hall.

Free Concerts

Sunday Interludes series presents Derek Gripper on February 4. For over 10 years, Gripper has produced some of South Africa's most extraordinary works. Drawing on European classical traditions, avant-garde Brazilian music, Malian kora, Cape Town folk, and even Indian classical music, he fuses the country's disparate creative traditions with styles from around the world.

Taylor Academy Showcase Concert on February 10, presented by The Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists, offers a unique opportunity to hear the leading young classical musicians in Canada currently studying at The Royal Conservatory.

Tickets and subscriptions are available online at www.rcmusic.com/performance, by calling 416.408.0208, or in person at the Weston Family Box Office.