Dianne Reeves, DJ Jazzy Jeff and More Set for the Royal Conservatory of Music This Winter

The Royal Conservatory of Music has announced its December and January concerts, featuring:

- Quiet Please, There's A Lady On Stage series continues with Lisa Fischer & Grand Baton, Emilie-Claire Barlow, and Calypso Rose with Kobo Town.

- Dianne Reeves brings Christmas to TD Jazz: The Roots of Jazz series.

- DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Playlist & Skratch Bastid spin Koerner Hall into 2018.

- And classical music concerts feature violinist Janine Jansen, clarinetist Martin Fröst, cellist Torleif Thedéen, and pianists Lucas Debargue and Khatia Buniatishvili.

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Quiet Please, There's A Lady On Stage

The popular series brings Lisa Fischer & Grand Baton to Koerner Hall on December 1 after their sold out concert in 2016. Fischer's voice is described by Keith Richards as "powerful as the rest of the guys put together." The vocalist has performed at every Rolling Stones concert since 1989, graced shows by artists that include Luther Vandross, Tina Turner, and Nine Inch Nails, and was featured in the Oscar winning documentary film, 20 Feet From Stardom.

The next concert, on December 17, features two-time Juno Award-winning vocalist Emilie-Claire Barlow as she celebrates her newest recording, Lumières d'hiver, featuring original takes on an eclectic mix of Christmas and wintry tunes, and fresh interpretations of holiday favourites, classics from her popular repertoire, and of course, "Winter Wonderland." Her special guests will include a string quartet and vocalists, as well as Kelly Jefferson (tenor saxophone), Reg Schwager (guitar), Amanda Tosoff (piano), Fabio Ragnelli (drums), and Daniel Fortin (bass).

Together, calypso and soca living legend, Calypso Rose, and nu-calypso pioneers, Kobo Town, create a lively Caribbean party on January 26. Calypso Rose is a true people's diva who has been giving rousing performances since the 1950s, while Toronto's Kobo Town takes a fresh approach to the old school calypso of Trinidad and Tobago.

TD Jazz: The Roots of Jazz

Huffington Post declared Dianne Reeves "one of our generation's definitive jazz masters, a vocal stylist of extraordinary skill and vivacity." She is a performer with a gift for imbuing any performance space with the intimacy of a living room, who always gets to the heart of a song and whose powerful, expressive voice has made her one of the pre-eminent jazz vocalists in the world. She returns to Koerner Hall on December 9 with a concert titled Christmas Time is Here - an evening of vocal jazz classics and Christmas favourites, with Billy Childs (piano), Romero Lubambo (guitar), Reginald Veal (bass), and Terreon Gully (drums).

Music Mix

Top Canadian songwriters come together with host Blair Packham to perform their music and tell us about the inspiration, the songwriting process, and the stories behind the songs, in SongBird North on December 2. The first concert in this series features Keysha Freshh, the talented Toronto hip hop artist and songwriter, and the youngest Canadian female artists to have three songs in 12 months on the airwaves.

SongBird North concert series presented in partnership with the Songwriters Association of Canada (S.A.C.)

Maple Blues Awards, the annual all-star concert, awards event, and after party return for the 9th consecutive year to Koerner Hall on January 15, with host ShoShona Kish, of the Juno Award-winning band, Digging Roots. This celebration of Canada's blues music features the finest musicians from across Canada representing the most current blues music on the scene, all backed by the renowned Maple Blues Band.

Concert presented in partnership with the Toronto Blues Society.

Over the past 15 years, Canada's own turntable champion and crowd favourite, Skratch Bastid, has been steadily taking his craft to new heights and pushing the boundaries of live DJing. His phenomenally successful collaboration with the Afiara String Quartet, Spin Cycle, premiered at Koerner Hall. Skratch returns January 27 with a new stereotype-busting, genre-defying show that features west Philadelphia's DMC Champion and multiple Grammy and American Music Award-winner, DJ Jazzy Jeff, known for his wildly successful hip hop duo, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, with Will Smith.

Classical Music

Violinist Janine Jansen, clarinetist Martin Fröst, cellist Torleif Thedéen, and pianist Lucas Debargue team up on December 5 for a program of Bartók's Contrasts, Szymanowski's Myths, and Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time. According to The New York Times, Janine Jansen's violin playing is "a tantalizing dance of colours and textures." "Until you've heard Martin Fröst, you really haven't heard the clarinet," states The Times. Fröst has also just been named as Chief Conductor of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra for a three-year term from the beginning of the 2019-20 season. Swedish cellist Torleif Thedéen is described by the Irish Times as "musically arresting and technically commanding." In 2015, French pianist Lucas Debargue became the most talked about artist of the International Tchaikovsky Competition, where he earned the coveted Moscow Music Critics' Award.

Concert presented in association with Alliance Francaise de Toronto

Invesco Piano Series

Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili has been recognized by London's Evening Standard for her "jaw-dropping virtuoso technique." She has been a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist and collaborated with Coldplay, violin virtuoso Renaud Capuçon, and renowned orchestras under batons of conductors Zubin Mehta and Charles Dutoit. In her return engagement at Koerner Hall on December 10, she will perform works by Liszt and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.

The above two concerts will both be preceded by a pre-concert talk with Rick Phillips.

Mazzoleni Masters - Songmasters

Renowned for his luminous voice "capable of the most powerful explosions as well as the gentlest covered notes," (Toronto Star) Canadian baritone Russell Braun is a recent Order of Canada recipient. He is joined by pianist Carolyn Maule on January 21 to perform a lieder and song recital that highlights Dichterliebe (A Poet's Love), one of Robert Schumann's most famous song cycles. This recital is sold out.

Free Concerts

Sunday Interludes series presents Francine Kay on December 3. The New York-based Canadian pianist who plays "with such richness of sonority, [and] such refinement, " (Repertoire, France) will perform Janácek's Piano Sonata, Schumann's Fantasiestücke, Chopin's Barcarolle, and Debussy's Ondine and L'isle joyeuse.

The Washington Post says that violinist Rachel Barton Pine "displays a power and confidence that puts her in the top echelon." This special appearance on January 7 sees her perform Mozart's Sinfonia concertante, a set of Paganini Caprices, Mohammed Fairouz's For Egypt, and a surprise set of her own arrangements.

Discovery Series features the Glenn Gould School New Music Ensemble on December 14 with a program of cutting-edge contemporary music curated and conducted by Brian Current, and the Glenn Gould School Concerto Competition Finals on January 31, in which performers of The Glenn Gould School compete for the opportunity to perform a concerto with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra during the 2018-19 concert season.

Hear artists on the cusp of major careers in a Rebanks Family Fellowship Concert on December 6 and string students from The Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists on December 16 in the first of two Taylor Academy Chamber Orchestra concerts.

In additional news, the concert by DakhaBrakha, the Ukrainian "ethnic chaos" band, which was to take place on Friday, April 13, 2018, has been re-scheduled to Friday, March 29, 2019 due to pregnancy. The Royal Conservatory ticket buyers have multiple options, including keeping their existing tickets for the rescheduled concert, exchanging their tickets for another concert during the 2017-18 concert season, exchanging them for a gift certificate, receiving a charitable tax receipt by donating ticket value to The Conservatory, or obtaining a refund.

Presented in association with the Aga Khan Museum

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DECEMBER AND JANUARY CONCERTS AT THE ROYAL CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC:

Lisa Fischer & Grand Baton

(Quiet Please, There's a Lady On Stage): Friday, December 1, 2017 at 8pm | KH; $45-$100

SongBird North

(Music Mix): Saturday, December 2, 2017 at 8pm | TT; $35

Francine Kay

(Sunday Interludes): Sunday, December 3, 2017 at 2pm | MCH; FREE

Janine Jansen, Martin Fröst, Torleif Thedéen, and Lucas Debargue

(Chamber Music): Tuesday, December 5, 2017 at 8pm | KH; $30-$75

Rebanks Family Fellowship Concert

(Rebanks Family Fellowship): Wednesday, December 6, 2017 at 7:30pm | MCH; FREE

Dianne Reeves Quintet

(TD Jazz: The Roots of Jazz - Great American Songbook): Sat., December 9, 2017 at 8pm | KH; $50-$100

Khatia Buniatishvili

(Invesco Piano Concerts): Sunday, December 10, 2017 at 3pm | KH; $35-$80

Glenn Gould School New Music Ensemble

(Discovery Series): Thursday, December 14, 2017 at 7:30pm | TT; FREE

Academy Chamber Orchestra

(Taylor Academy): Saturday, December 16, 2017 at 7:30pm | MCH; FREE

Emilie-Claire Barlow

(Quiet Please, There's a Lady On Stage): Sunday, December 17, 2017 at 7pm | KH; $40-$85

Rachel Barton Pine

(Sunday Interludes): Sunday, January 7, 2018 at 2pm | MCH; FREE

Maple Blues Awards

(Music Mix): Monday, January 15, 2018 at 7pm | KH; $35-$80

Russell Braun sings Schumann's Dichterliebe

(Songmasters): Sunday, January 21, 2018 at 2pm | MCH; SOLD OUT

Calypso Rose with Kobo Town

(Quiet Please, There's a Lady On Stage): Friday, January 26, 2018 at 8pm | KH; $35-$80

DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Playlist & Skratch Bastid

(Music Mix): Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 8pm | KH; $40-$55

Glenn Gould School Concerto Competition Finals

(Discovery Series): Wednesday, January 31, 2018 at 10am | KH; FREE

**Venue Legend: KH Koerner Hall; MCH Mazzoleni Concert Hall in historic Ihnatowycz Hall; TT Temerty Theatre**

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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. Become a Royal Subscriber: select any 4-6 concerts and save 10%; select any 7+ concerts and save 15%; both levels receive special subscriber benefits.

A limited number of $15 BMO Rush Tickets are available starting 90 minutes before all performances presented by The Royal Conservatory. Tickets to free concerts become available seven days prior to the date of the performance through the Weston Family Box Office.

All concerts take place at The Royal Conservatory of Music, TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, 273 Bloor Street West, Toronto.