Soundstreams to Present KEYED UP! Festival This Spring

For all keyboard lovers, Lawrence Cherney, Founding Artistic Director of Soundstreams will present Keyed Up! a three-day festival April 18 to 20 featuring exceptional artists performing compelling works for various combinations of piano, harpsichord, electronic keyboard and digital organ from Canada and around the world. All three festival concerts take place at 7:30 p.m. at the Jane Mallett Theatre (Toronto Centre for the Arts, 27 Front St E). Tickets and festival passes are on sale now at Soundstreams.ca.

Keyed Up! #1

VARIATIONS ON GOLDBERG VARIATIONS | APRIL 18

The festival opens with a dazzling array of newly composed, world premiere variations on J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations by four extraordinary Canadian composers: Taylor Brook, Dorothy Chang, Emily Doolittle and André Ristic, plus the North American premiere of Australian composer/pianist Paul Grabowsky's jazz-inflected take on Bach's masterpiece.

In the first half, the commissioned variations each are preceded by the aria from Bach's Goldberg Variations. The composers represent not only a diversity of aesthetics, but the newly-composed variations will alternate between types of keyboards - an impressive wave of complementary and contrasting textures performed by four brilliant artists: Gregory Oh (electronic keyboard), Wesley Shen (harpsichord), Jackie Leung (piano), and John Paul Farahat (digital organ).

In the second half, distinguished Australian composer and pianist Paul Grabowsky returns to Soundstreams nearly a decade after bringing his boundary-breaking Australian Art Orchestra to Canada. Of Grabowsky's Improvisations on the Aria from Bach's Goldberg Variations, The Sydney Arts Guide recently remarked: "in this improvisation, jazz gesturing alternated with hand-crossing, complex filigree. Paul Grabowsky's playing was effectively reminiscent of Bach's ecstatic workings in his thirty variations."

Keyed Up! #2

NOTATIONS | APRIL 19

RBC BRIDGES Composer Showcase

Notations: elements in a specialised system such as music. -Collins Dictionary

In this special showcase you'll hear the world premieres of six keyboard pieces of the future! The first half of this free program showcases these new works by emerging composers, participants in this year's RBC Bridges program, chosen through a juried international competition: Uko Abara, Alexandra Gorlin-Crenshaw, Gustav Knudson, Maria-Eduarda Mendes Martins, Prokhor Protasoff, and Hsiu-Ping Patrick Wu. Their pieces will be performed at Keyed Up! by the RBC Bridges resident ensemble: Gregory Oh (piano), Wesley Shen (harpsichord), Jackie Leung (electronic keyboard), and John Paul Farahat (digital organ).

The second half showcases the talents of individual members of this illustrious resident ensemble in short works by four celebrated composers: T. REX by Ana Sokolović (North American premiere) performed by John Paul Farahat, Mutations by Alvin Singleton performed by Jackie Leung, Toile de Jouy by Monica Pearce performed by Wesley Shen, and Glass Houses (#5) by Ann Southam performed by Gregory Oh. Notations is free with registration as a single concert, or automatically included in the festival pass.

Keyed Up! #3

6 PIANOS 12 HANDS | APRIL 20

For the festival's finale, we exalt in three spectacular works for six grand pianos: Steve Reich's iconic Six Pianos, Terry Riley's A Rainbow in Curved Air, André Ristic's Vivaldi Variations plus works for two pianos by Ana Sokolović and Julia Wolfe.

Steve Reich and Terry Riley have each had a profound influence on the way we listen to music. Reich, described by the New Yorker as "the most original musical thinker of our time", recognized early in his career the power of multiple pianos, brilliantly exploited in his mesmerising Six Pianos. This seminal work is combined with Terry Riley's A Rainbow in Curved Air, itself dating from the same period as Six Pianos. This evening also features a reprise of Ristic's Soundstreams-commissioned Vivaldi Variations and includes two exceptional works for two pianos: Trois Études by Ana Sokolović and My Lips From Speaking by Julia Wolfe.

Pianists performing in this concert include Stephanie Chua, Geoffrey Conquer, Simon Docking, Gregory Oh, Midori Koga and Wesley Shen.

Says Lawrence Cherney: "Themed concerts are what Soundstreams does, but in our 41 years, we've never focused on keyboards - surely a lapse - they're ubiquitous in virtually every genre of Western music. Keyed Up! is the answer to that lapse. Whether new works inspired by giants of the repertoire like Bach, or iconic ones for multiple pianos like Reich's "Six Pianos", there's a richness of texture and timbre, a diversity of genre and a dazzling array of gifted composers and performers never heard together on the same stage before. What an opportunity!"

A Prelude to Keyed Up!

RECOVERED VOICES: TD ENCOUNTERS | APRIL 3

Celebrating piano works of unsung masters from the 20th and 21st centuries, this free Soundstreams TD Encounters is a prelude to Keyed Up!, on April 3 at 7:30 p.m. (Temerty Theatre, 273 Bloor St W, Toronto - the 2nd floor of the Royal Conservatory of Music). The program offers a rare opportunity to discover memorable works by North American composers, performed by rising stars currently enrolled at our most prestigious training institutions: The Royal Conservatory of Music's Glenn Gould School and Taylor Academy in Toronto; and McGill University's Schulich School of Music in Montreal. The program includes: Fantasie Négre by Florence Price, and In The Bottoms - IV: Barcarolle by R. Nathaniel Dett, both performed by Elijah Stevens; Frozen Road by Ian Cusson performed by Jesse Plessis; and Troubled Water by Margaret Bonds performed by Irene Huang. Visit Soundstreams.ca for details and reservations.

Support for Keyed Up! has been generously provided by Canadian Heritage, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, The Azrieli Foundation, , The Mary-Margaret Webb Foundation, The Metcalf Foundation, The Michael and Sonja Koerner Charitable Foundation, RBC Foundation, SOCAN Foundation, and Soundstreams' generous individual donors. Soundstreams also gratefully acknowledges the Canadian Music Centre as a partner organisation for the RBC Bridges program, and Remenyi House of Music for their generous contribution to "6 Pianos 12 Hands." TD Encounters are supported by TD Bank Group through the TD Ready Commitment.

Event Details

Soundstreams 2023/2024 Season

Keyed Up! Festival

Thursday April 18, Friday April 19, Saturday April 20

7:30 p.m. start times

Jane Mallett Theatre - St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts

27 Front Street East, Toronto, ON M5E 1B4
Ticket Link: https://soundstreams.ca/soundstreams-presents-keyed-up/

Box Office (TO Live): 416-366-7723 | 1-800-708-6754, boxoffice@tolive.com

Ticket Prices: starting at $36.50 for individual tickets ($69.25 & $101.25); Festival Pass available from $56.50 ($90.40 & $135.60). Applicable box office fees may apply.

Accessibility: The lower lobby of the Jane Mallett Theatre is accessible for patrons using wheelchairs or other mobility-assistive devices. The theatre has dedicated accessible seating locations on the orchestra level, plus other seating suitable for patrons with limited mobility. Please click here for the Jane Mallett Theatre venue guide.

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