The new Apple Music Classical (AMC) app is out, and it’s already making a big impression. Launched on March 28, Apple Music Classical is a companion app offered only to paying Apple Music subscribers. The new software pulls from the same database of music, but it claims to provide better audio quality and a more intuitive user interface (UI) than its competitors. Jessie Char is a classically... Source ..read more

Durme, Durme: Four Ladino Folk Songs Maureen Batt, soprano; Tara Scott, piano Leaf Music, 2023 With only four short compositions inspired by prayers, poems, and lullabies, composer Elisha Denburg doesn’t have much room to establish the themes of the Judeo-Spanish folk songs. Luckily, he uses time to its fullest, enlisting soprano Maureen Batt and pianist Tara Scott to convey a wide range of raw... Source ..read more

Legacy Christian-Pierre La Marca, cello; Adrien La Marca, viola; Julien Chauvin, violin; Philippe Jaroussky, countertenor; Le Concert de La Loge Naïve Classiques, 2023 The musicians’ bold and confident performances on this album exude an unforgettable joie de vivre. Legacy features incredible cellist Christian-Pierre La Marca alongside Le Concert de La Loge. The compositions are centred around the... Source ..read more

Toronto, March 29th, 2023 – The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir is delighted to announce their 2023/2024 season under the artistic direction of Jean-Sébastien Vallée. Highlights of the upcoming season include two major choral masterworks: Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, which features the TMChoir with a full orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall, and Verdi’s haunting Requiem at both Koerner Hall and George Weston... Source ..read more

March 28, 2023 – Apple Music Classical launches their brand-new standalone app designed specifically for classical music today. Besides now being fully dedicated to classical music and its artists with the world’s largest classical music catalogue, a key new element for classical fans is the ability to search for individual works and see a presentation of artists’ recordings for each specific work. Source ..read more

Banff, March 28, 2023 – Banff Centre extends its sincere congratulations to the Isidore String Quartet as a recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant for 2023. This extraordinary recognition comes just seven months after their Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC) triumph last September. The Avery Fisher Career Grants give professional assistance and recognition to emerging... Source ..read more

Fauré: Après un rêve / Lalo: Espérance María Dueñas, violin; Itamar Golan, piano Deutsche Grammophon (2022-23) No stranger to Canada, María Dueñas made her mark in Montreal at the age of 16, as a contestant in the 2019 CMIM Violin edition. Not long thereafter, she performed a prize-winning interpretation of Edouard Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole at the Menuhin Competition and landed an exclusive... Source ..read more

Theme: Variation David Rogosin, piano Leaf Music, 2022 Theme: Variation shouldn’t be taken casually—the solo piano album is a thought-provoking, conceptual experiment that deserves many rounds of active listening. David Rogosin begins Orlando Gibbons’s The Italian Ground, followed by Mein Junges Leben Hat Ein End and Est-ce Mars, both composed by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. Source ..read more

The Handel Project / Handel: 3 Suites; Brahms: Handel Variations Seong-Jin Cho, piano Deutsche Grammophon, 2023 The new CD by pianist Seong-Jin Cho, winner of the 2015 Warsaw Chopin Competition, revolves around Handel. The disc contains three Suites by the composer; the Variations on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24, by Johannes Brahms; the Sarabande from the Suite in B-flat major, HWV 440. Source ..read more

March 28, 2023 – OTTAWA (Canada) – The National Arts Centre (NAC) is pleased to announce that John Storgårds, Principal Guest Conductor of the NAC Orchestra, has extended his contract with the NAC Orchestra for five years, through the 2027-2028 season. The acclaimed Finnish musician first conducted the NAC Orchestra in February 2013 and was subsequently named Principal Guest Conductor in 2015-2016. Source ..read more