Music Appreciation and History Classes

Winter and Spring 2015

Course Calendar

Registration:

Online: rcmusic.ca/MusicAppreciation

By phone: 416-408-2825

In person: 273 Bloor St. West

Online: rcmusic.ca/MusicAppreciation

Music Appreciation and History The Royal Conservatory of Music

Opera in the City

Instructor: Eric Domville

Tuesdays, 1:00-3:00 • January 13 to February 3 (4 weeks) • $195

Calling all opera lovers! Whether you’re a seasoned opera-goer or new to this timeless art form,

before you take your seat in the theatre for another highly anticipated season of opera in the city, join

University of Toronto Professor Emeritus Eric Domville for an illuminating journey into operatic history

and enhance your experience of the following two operas scheduled to be performed in Toronto this

winter:

• Mozart’s darkly comedic Don Giovanni (COC; opens January 24)

• Wagner’s epic Die Walküre (COC; opens January 31)

Immerse yourself in the music, the plot, and the characters; hear arias sung by students of the Glenn

Gould School; and study excerpts from the libretto (English translations provided). We’ll explore the

place of each opera within the composer’s artistic output and its position within both the history of

opera and the socio-political context of the time. Questions and discussion will be encouraged as an

essential component of a communal introduction to these enduring works.

Eric Domville is a Professor Emeritus in English literature at the University of Toronto, where he

taught at all levels for 30 years. Since his retirement, he has concentrated on the relationship between

words and music in song and opera. He has given many pre-performance talks for the Canadian

Opera Company and Opera Atelier, and delivered lectures to opera guilds across Ontario. For the past

20 years, Eric has acted as commentator for the Music and Poetry series at the Faculty of Music,

University of Toronto. Currently, in addition to presenting opera courses at various institutions, he

appears as a guest presenter of programmes on classical music on the University of Toronto’s radio

station at 89.5 FM. Many of his articles on operas have appeared in the programme books of the

Canadian Opera Company.

Notes:

A spring session of this course will cover Berlioz's Orpheus and Eurydice, Rossini's Barber of Seville,

Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle, and Schoenberg's Erwartung (Tuesdays 1-3, March 24 to April 28). See

below for course details.

Students may purchase 2 tickets to The Glenn Gould School spring opera, Offenbach’s La Belle Hélène

conducted by Uri Mayer (Koerner Hall; Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at 7:30 pm OR Friday, March 20,

2015 at 7:30 pm) at 10% off, while quantities last. Call (416)408-0208 or visit the Weston Family Box

Office after registering.

Music Appreciation and History The Royal Conservatory of Music

How Music Works: A Practical Primer

Instructor: James Stager

Wednesdays, 10:00–12:00 • January 21 to March 11 (8 weeks) • $395

If you’ve always wanted to understand how music “works,” this practical course combining guided

listening and active participation in basic musicianship exercises is for you. Explore the building blocks

of music and how they create the magic of the music you love! We’ll deconstruct selections from

classical, folk, and popular repertoires—including Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,” Pachelbel’s

“Canon,” Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus,” Bach’s cello suites, and pieces by Bernstein, the Beatles, B.B.

King, and Gershwin, among many others—and unlock the secrets of melody, rhythm, harmony,

texture, form, genre, and more. Along the way, we’ll cover topics such as basic staff notation, scales,

intervals, time signatures, note and rest values, meters, chords, and cadences. In the final class, we’ll

put all the pieces together and apply our cumulative learning to an enlightening study of Beethoven’s

monumental Symphony No. 5. Participants will emerge from this course with a deeper understanding

of the music they experience.

James Stager is a sought-after trombonist, pianist, and educator. He teaches music theory, music

history, low brass, and jazz improvisation at The Royal Conservatory as well as at several of Toronto’s

performing arts schools, and music theory at York University. He is frequently heard in concert halls,

festivals, and nightclubs in a wide variety of musical settings including symphony orchestras (Toronto

Philharmonia), musical theatre (Shaw Festival and Soulpepper Theatre), world music (Moda Eterna,

Caché), and jazz groups (Big Rude Jake, Red Hot Ramble). In addition to his teaching and performing

career, as a member of The Conservatory’s College of Examiners, James adjudicates woodwind,

brass, and percussion examinations throughout Canada and the United States, and evaluates written

examinations in music theory and history.

Notes:

Students may purchase 2 tickets to Sir Roger Norrington Conducts the Royal Conservatory Orchestra

(Koerner Hall; Friday, April 10, 2015 at 8pm), featuring Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, at 50% off, while

quantities last. Call (416)408-0208 or visit the Weston Family Box Office after registering.

Music Appreciation and History The Royal Conservatory of Music

Schubert’s Song Cycles: Love, Longing, and Despair

Instructor: Robert Loewen

Wednesdays, 1:30-3:00 • January 28 to February 18 (4 weeks) • $150

“I came here a stranger, as a stranger I depart …”

This four-week course illuminates the song cycles of Franz Schubert, considered the “father” of

German lieder and the most prolific of all German art song composers. Working in the early 19th

century, Schubert wrote more than 600 songs for piano and voice in which the poetry of contemporary

Romantic poets such as Goethe and Müller is set to music. The song cycle --- a grouping of songs

that comprise a narrative, or that are united by a common theme or idea --- was among the most

important musical genres of the 19th century. Through these intimate works, narratives unfold,

existential questions arise, and complex psychological and emotional states are explored.

Schubert took the song cycle to previously unknown --- and, many argue, unsurpassed --- heights. Die

schöne Müllerin, which Schubert composed in 1823, traces the trajectory of young love from optimism

to its tragic conclusion, while Winterreise, the proofs for which Schubert was correcting at the time of

his early death in 1827, follows the flight of a romantic hero from unrequired love. When Winterreise

was published in 1828, an Austrian journal remarked of the songs that “none can sing or hear them

without being touched to the heart.”

Discover the beauty of these works and contemplate their enduring themes through lecture, legendary

recordings, and live performances. The German mezzo-soprano Elena Gerhardt said of Winterreise,

“You have to be haunted by this cycle to be able to sing it.” On February, 26, hear the outstanding

German baritone Christian Gerhaher perform Winterreise live in Koerner Hall.

Dr. Robert Loewen teaches voice to a wide range of singers including high school and college

students, young professionals, and avocational mature individuals. His students have been accepted

into leading music programs, including The Curtis Institute, and are working in the profession. He has

also taught the choral scholars of Trinity College at the University of Toronto; served as presenter and

clinician for the Royal Conservatory Music Development Program; given presentations for Royal

Conservatory Examinations; and served as an adjudicator across Canada. Dr. Loewen is on the Voice

Faculty of the Royal Conservatory School, the Academic Faculty of the Glenn Gould School, and is a

Senior Voice Examiner for Royal Conservatory Examinations and Royal Conservatory Music

Development Program.

Notes:

Students may purchase 2 tickets to Christian Gerhaher & Gerold Huber (Koerner Hall; Thursday,

February 26, 2015 at 8pm), at 10% off, while quantities last. Call (416)408-0208 or visit the Weston

Family Box Office after registering.

Music Appreciation and History The Royal Conservatory of Music

The Intimate World of Chamber Music

Instructor: Rick Phillips

Thursdays, 10:00-12:00 • February 5 to March 12 (6 weeks) • $295

This course provides an introduction to and survey of chamber music, one of the most personal and

intimate forms of musical expression. Composed for small groups of instruments with one performer to

each part, chamber music is characterized by the expression and “conversation” among ensemble

members rather than by a focus on the virtuosity of a soloist or unity under a conductor’s baton. The

larger forms of opera, symphony, concerto, and oratorio all have an irresistible, inspirational grandeur

and majesty, but chamber music should never be overlooked for its ability to communicate ideas and

emotion. In the words of the German composer Hans Werner Henze: “The importance of chamber

music is that, in dealing with the intimate, it can attain the indescribable.”

Originally performed in a small space, such as a room in a palace or in a house, chamber music today

is alive in concert halls across the world, thrilling audiences and performers alike with its unique

charms and challenges. What skills---musical and non-musical---do chamber musicians require, and

how do these differ from those required to play solo or symphonic works? How are questions of

interpretation resolved among groups of musicians working together as equals? What special

considerations are involved in the rehearsal and performance of chamber music, and what are the

challenges and rewards? Through trios, quartets, quintets, and more by composers including Haydn,

Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, Bartók, and Shostakovich, we’ll trace the development of

chamber music starting in the 17th century through to the 20th. The Royal Conservatory’s quartet-in-

residence, the Afiara Quartet, will join us for a special glimpse into the workings of a real quartet and

an informal interview with course leader Rick Phillips.

Rick Phillips was affiliated with CBC Radio for 30 years, working in Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary,

and Toronto in a career that spanned production to management to on-air. For 14 years, he was the

Host and Producer of SOUND ADVICE, the weekly guide to classical music and recordings heard

across Canada on CBC Radio One and CBC Radio Two every weekend. As well as broadcasting and

webcasting, Rick is a busy freelance writer and reviewer, speaker, panel moderator, consultant,

musical tour guide, and concert host. He’s often a juror in the classical music categories for the Juno

Awards, and is the author of “The Essential Classical Recordings – 101 CDs,” published by

McClelland & Stewart. Rick delivers music history and appreciation courses at a range of institutions

and organizations across the city. He holds a B. Mus. from McGill University and an M. Mus. from the

University of Toronto.

Notes:

Students may purchase 2 tickets to either Kahane Swensen Brey Trio (Koerner Hall; Sunday, March,

2015 at 3pm) or The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (Koerner Hall; Wednesday, April 8, 2015

at 8pm) at 10% off, while quantities last. Call (416)408-0208 or visit the Weston Family Box Office after

registering.

Music Appreciation and History The Royal Conservatory of Music

Bach’s St John Passion

Instructor: Tamara Bernstein

Tuesdays, 10:00-12:00 • February 10 to March 3 (4 weeks) • $195

This course provides an illuminating study of one of the most intensely dramatic oratorios in the

Western canon, J.S. Bach’s Passion According to St. John (BWV245), which will be performed by

Tafelmusik on March 20–22.

We begin with an overview of the tradition of Passion performances in German churches in Bach’s

time, sampling some settings by his contemporaries. We will look, too, at the operatic forms that Bach

and his contemporaries used in sacred oratorios. We will then look closely at selected arias, choruses,

recitatives, and chorales. Throughout, we will ask questions, such as: What elements of Bach’s setting

of the story of Christ’s last days were typical of the musical language of his day? Which ones would

give the work his personal imprint? How did the music address 18th-century Lutheran orthodoxy, and

how does it speak so powerfully to non-Christian, and even secular, audiences today? We will also

examine the discomfort among some modern performers and listeners with Bach’s all-too-vivid

capturing of anti-Semitic aspects of John’s Gospel. And, since the performance is the piece, we will

compare a typical performance from the early 20th century with several outstanding modern

recordings on period instruments, listening not only for stylistic approaches but also for the different

theological and human riches that each conductor finds and brings to life in Bach’s score.

Tamara Bernstein is one of Canada’s most distinguished music writers, broadcasters, teachers, and

concert curators. During her 25-year career writing for the Globe and Mail and National Post, she

published over 1,300 articles. She has made several documentaries for CBC Radio’s “Ideas” (on

Hildegard of Bingen, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Ethel Smyth), as well as numerous features on

legendary performers for CBC Radio Two. Tamara has presented guest lectures at Stanford

University, the Universities of Victoria and Manitoba, The Banff Centre, and for Vancouver’s Music in

the Morning series, among other venues. She has a Masters degree in Piano Literature and

Performance, having completed her advanced studies with Greta Kraus and Gyorgy Sebok, two

legends of the Austro–Hungarian/Jewish musical traditions. Since 2001, she has been Artistic Director

of the acclaimed Summer Music in the Garden, the free concerts held at the Toronto Music Garden.

Music Appreciation and History The Royal Conservatory of Music

The Classical Voice: Technique and Art

Instructor: Stephen R. Clarke

Tuesdays, 1:30-3:00 • February 17 to March 17 (5 weeks) • $185

Enhance your appreciation and understanding of the world’s oldest instrument in this 5-week course

that will focus on the fine points of listening to singing. What are the hallmarks of a great voice and of

great vocal technique? How has the aesthetic of classical singing developed through (recorded)

history? How can we compare one performance, one interpretation, to another, and describe what we

hear when we listen to art songs, arias, and other vocal works?

Through guided and comparative listening, participants will learn to recognize many of the technical

aspects of vocal music and what these contribute to the effect that a particular performance has on us

as listeners. We will also note some changes in performance style that have occurred over the last

115 years—the period for which we actually have the evidence of how people have sung—while

developing an expanded vocabulary of vocal music appreciation.

We’ll begin by looking at singing from a broad historical perspective, including chant, polyphony, the

dawn of opera, the popularization of concerts in the 19th century, and the semi-religious 20th century

experience of the Lieder concert. Next, we’ll explore the types of voices and their ranges—including

basses and baritones, tenors, altos and mezzos, and sopranos—and listen to examples of each. What

distinguishes these voice types, and what distinguishes the various fachs within them? Recordings

from the Stratton Collection, a collection of vocal recordings containing samples of all the great singers

of classical music who made recordings from the 1890s to the present, will be used both to illustrate

the concepts discussed in this course and to provide a springboard for consideration of how

technology has shaped and changed performance.

The final class will be held at 329 St George St. (St. George and Dupont), where the Stratton

Collection is held and where we will have an opportunity to experience selected recordings in their

original formats, including acoustic recordings made by singers of the Golden Age of Opera.

Stephen R. Clarke, chair of the board of Opera Canada magazine and a retired lawyer, has been

collecting records for over 50 years and is the custodian of the renowned Stratton Collection. A tenor

himself and an erstwhile pupil of Howell Glynne, Elizabeth Benson Guy, and Greta Kraus, Mr. Clarke

has dedicated much of his life to the study of singers and singing styles of the past. An avid educator,

he shares his extensive expertise and resources through regular classes with artists of the COC

Ensemble Studio and students in voice and opera at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music. Mr.

Clarke has also lectured on several occasions as part of the noon-hour concert series in the Richard

Bradshaw Amphitheatre of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, and taught courses for

the Canadian Opera Company. He is also chair of Historic Masters Ltd., a UK company that for the

past 30 years has issued rare and previously unpublished 78 rpm recordings to collectors worldwide.

Music Appreciation and History The Royal Conservatory of Music

Cinematic Music: How We Hear Film

Instructor: Leslie Barcza

Wednesdays, 6:30-8:00 • February 18 to March 25 (6 weeks) • $225

Music is an important, often unacknowledged part of the film experience. A history of film music is

really a history of film. One can understand this from the audience’s side, appreciating movies as

finished works of art and the combined effect of all the components, or from the point of view of the

creators, especially the challenges facing musicians and composers, and/or producers.

In examining what music contributes to a movie, we’ll focus mostly on the practices of Hollywood

producers in the 20th century, beginning with silent films and moving through the classic scores of the

1930s, to our own time. In each era, music can be seen as a negotiation between several related

concerns, such as the purely creative and the commercial. By hearing and watching examples from

each era, we can see the stylistic assumptions, and seek to understand why music was used in

particular ways in certain films. Among the films we will examine are King Kong (1933), The

Magnificent Seven (1960), Psycho (1960), and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1967). Our goal is to seek a

better understanding of films and music in film, while discovering our own preferences.

Leslie Barcza is a musician and composer whose focus has been on music theatre and opera, as

well as some scores for film. Leslie’s academic study grew naturally out of his practical work, in

research on the dramaturgy of opera and film. Leslie maintains an arts and culture blog at

barczablog.com.

Music Appreciation and History The Royal Conservatory of Music

Music Theory 101

Instructor: Christopher Lencki

Mondays, 6:00-7:30 • February 23 to May 4 (10 weeks) • $385

Are you curious about music—how it’s put together, how it “works,” how it’s written down? Are you

starting to play a musical instrument, perhaps in one of the Conservatory School’s Learn to Play

classes? Or is your child studying an instrument and do you want to gain a foundation to better

support your child’s musical development at home? If so, this ten-week course delivered in an

engaging and interactive environment will provide you with a solid overview of the basic mechanics of

musical theory and the tools necessary to embark on further exploration or simply enjoy the music you

hear with new understanding. Through the use of examples drawn both from within and outside the

Western classical tradition, and through writing and listening exercises, we’ll explore topics including:

basic musical notation; clefs, note values, accidentals, and the placement of notes on the staff; tones

and semitones, major and minor scales, and key signatures; intervals; chords and chord progressions;

and pulse, rhythm, and meter.

Christopher Lencki has taught theory and history classes at The Royal Conservatory for over 15

years. He holds an ARCT in Piano Performance (The Royal Conservatory), Bachelor of Music, Music

Education (University of Toronto), and Master of Arts in Musicology and Ethnomusicology (York

University). He studied piano with Gordon Hallett, William Aide, and Andrew Markow, as well as

classical Indian drumming with Sharda Sahai and composition with Samuel Dolin. Christopher taught

privately for 13 years prior to joining The Royal Conservatory School faculty in 1991. He is also a

member of the Conservatory’s College of Examiners.

Music Appreciation and History The Royal Conservatory of Music

Mahler’s Romantic Landscape of Song and Symphony

Instructor: Stephen Cera

Thursdays, 1:30-3:30 • February 26 to March 19 (4 weeks) • $195

Almost without exception, Mahler’s 45 songs were the only music other than symphonies that he

composed. His entire body of work can be divided into three categories: songs, song cycles, and

symphonies. For Mahler, the inter-relationship between these three forms was close and complex. He

often used material from his songs to build and shape his symphonies. This is particularly true of his

first four symphonies, all of which are based to some degree on his songs. Mahler referred to those

songs as "fertile seeds" that only reached maturity within his symphonies. His Symphonies No. 1 to 4

are often called the "Wunderhorn Symphonies," because many of the melodies in these works come

from songs set to texts from Des Knaben Wunderhorn ("Youth’s Magic Horn"), a collection of German

folk poetry.

This four-part course surveys the fascinating connections and "inter-penetration" between Mahler’s

songs and song cycles and his first four symphonies, which themselves blazed new paths for the

symphonic form. They will be examined in the context of Mahler's astonishing career as both a

preeminent conductor---his "day job"---and a composer. Particular attention will be paid to Mahler’s

Second Symphony ("Resurrection"), which will be performed by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra,

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and vocal soloists in June 2015.

Stephen Cera served as the Artistic Director of the distinguished Concert Season in the George

Weston Recital Hall at the Ford Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto from 1991 to 2000. During

those years, the Ford Centre was celebrated as the scene of recitals and concerts by many of the

world’s foremost instrumental and vocal artists and ensembles. Prior to that, he was a Producer with

CBC Radio Music, and produced the Canadian Orchestral Sampler, which won a Financial Post

Award for Business in the Arts. He also served for seven years as the Music Critic of the Baltimore

Sun. His commentaries on music have been published in The Wall Street Journal, Congressional

Quarterly, the Los Angeles Times and Musical America, as well as the National Post, The Globe and

Mail, Huffington Post, and Maclean’s. Mr. Cera has been active as a concert pianist, and has

performed as soloist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Liszt E-flat Concerto), Winnipeg

Symphony, and other orchestras in the U.S. and Canada. Most recently, he was the Artistic Director of

the Music at Sharon festival for three years, and Director of Classical Programming for the Black

Creek Summer Music Festival, which presented concerts by Plácido Domingo, Sondra Radvanovsky,

and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lorin Maazel.

Music Appreciation and History The Royal Conservatory of Music

Music and the Third Reich

Instructor: Simon Wynberg

Tuesdays, 6:00-7:30 • March 3 to March 24 (4 weeks) • $150

The rise of National Socialism and the war that followed had a seismic effect on the course of musical

history. Its reverberations are still felt today. The course will cover anti-Semitism and the early

exclusion of Jews from the music industry, the concept of "entartete" (degenerate) music, the creation

of the Reichsmusikkammer, and the predicament of German musicians and the artistic and moral

choices they were forced to make.

While the flight of thousands of Jewish musicians, conductors, composers, managers, and publishers

created new opportunities in Germany, it simultaneously refashioned and galvanized music and

musical institutions in the exiles' adoptive countries, particularly in America. This course will explore

this phenomenon and the music that was born in exile, as well as the works that were written in Nazi-

controlled Europe---by approved composers as well as by those in self-imposed exile and in camps.

Finally, we will examine the legacy of Nazism and the cultural and psychic damage it caused,

questions that surround artistic accountability and responsibility, and issues that relate to the

memorialization of the Holocaust as well its exploitation. Each lecture will feature musical illustrations

and a short performance by students of the Glenn Gould School.

Simon Wynberg is the artistic director of the ARC Ensemble (Artists of the Royal Conservatory), the

organization's ensemble-in-residence, and is responsible for its programming, touring, recording

projects, and overall development. He has directed chamber music festivals in Scotland (Music in Blair

Atholl) and the Caribbean, and was Artistic Director of Music at Speedside and the Guelph Spring

Festival from 1994 to 2002. In tandem with his work with the ARC Ensemble, he lectures and writes

on music under National Socialism, and is particularly involved in the research and performance of

works by composers who were exiled and marginalized because of it. As a performer, his entry in The

New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians describes him as “not only a virtuoso performer of

distinction but one of the guitar’s foremost scholars.” His work in this field has introduced guitarists to a

large body of hitherto unknown music.

Music Appreciation and History The Royal Conservatory of Music

Mozart: Man and Music

Instructor: David Bowser

Tuesdays, 10:00-12:00 • March 10 to April 14 (6 weeks) • $295

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is recognized as one of the greatest composers in the history of western

music. In the 21st century, more than two and a half centuries after his death, Mozart’s life continues

to fascinate and his vast repertoire of chamber, orchestral, and operatic works continues to hold a

universal appeal. His genius is revealed in his music: he embraced the musical language of his

century, yet was able to deliver works that transcend his own time through their exceptional originality

and depth of expression.

Join David Bowser, founder and artistic director of the Mozart Project and conductor of the Toronto

Mozart Players, for a series of engaging and informative lectures offering insights into the life,

personality, and music of this enigmatic and beloved composer. Drawing on primary sources including

letters, treatises, and musical manuscripts, we’ll delve into 18th-century Salzburg and Vienna (and

beyond) and explore the events that shaped Mozart’s remarkable life and creative output. Recordings

and live performances will enhance participants’ understanding and enjoyment of Mozart’s exceptional

oeuvre, including works that will be featured at the inaugural concert of the Toronto Mozart Players

with the winner of the Toronto Mozart Vocal Competition, presented by the Mozart Project on Sunday,

April 12, 2015 at St. Lawrence Hall.

David Bowser is Founder and Artistic Director of the Mozart Project and conducts the Toronto Mozart

Players. He is also Music Director and Conductor of the Hart House Chorus and the Oakville Choral

Society, and an active guest conductor, composer, university instructor, and vocal coach. He has

served as music director of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Brantford

Symphony Orchestra, and the North York Concert Orchestra, and has conducted orchestras including

the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and the National Youth

Orchestra. He holds a Master of Music degree in composition from the University of Toronto and a

Master of Music degree in conducting from the Conservatoire de Musique in Montreal, where he

studied conducting with Raffi Armenian and voice with Marie Daveluy. David is the recipient of

numerous grants and awards from the Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council, and the University of

Toronto, where he is a doctoral candidate.

Music Appreciation and History The Royal Conservatory of Music

Opera in the City

Instructor: Eric Domville

Tuesdays, 1:00-3:00 • March 24 to April 28 (6 weeks) • $295

Calling all opera lovers! Whether you’re a seasoned opera-goer or new to this timeless art form,

before you take your seat in the theatre for another highly anticipated season of opera in the city, join

University of Toronto Professor Emeritus Eric Domville for an illuminating journey into operatic history

and enhance your experience of the following four operas scheduled to be performed in Toronto this

spring:

• Berlioz’s version of Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice (Opera Atelier; opens April 9)

• Rossini’s comic masterpiece The Barber of Seville (COC; opens April 17)

• Bartók's psychologically thrilling Bluebeard's Castle and Schoenberg's seminal Erwartung

(COC; opens May 6)

Immerse yourself in the music, the plot, and the characters; hear arias sung by students of the Glenn

Gould School; and study excerpts from the libretto (English translations provided). We’ll explore the

place of each opera within the composer’s artistic output and its position within both the history of

opera and the socio-political context of the time. Questions and discussion will be encouraged as an

essential component of a communal introduction to these enduring works.

Eric Domville is a Professor Emeritus in English literature at the University of Toronto, where he

taught at all levels for 30 years. Since his retirement, he has concentrated on the relationship between

words and music in song and opera. He has given many pre-performance talks for the Canadian

Opera Company and Opera Atelier, and delivered lectures to opera guilds across Ontario. For the past

20 years, Eric has acted as commentator for the Music and Poetry series at the Faculty of Music,

University of Toronto. Currently, in addition to presenting opera courses at various institutions, he

appears as a guest presenter of programmes on classical music on the University of Toronto’s radio

station at 89.5 FM. Many of his articles on operas have appeared in the programme books of the

Canadian Opera Company.

Music Appreciation and History The Royal Conservatory of Music

Understanding 20th and 21st Century Music

Instructor: Dean Burry

Wednesdays, 1:00-3:00 • March 25 to May 13 (8 weeks) • $395

The 20th century was a time of tremendous upheaval and revolution. Two world wars, the onset of the

atomic age, space exploration, and an unprecedented level of globalization transformed the world

more in 100 years than had previously occurred in millennia. So, too, musical tradition cast off the

common practises of the past 300 years, striking out in brave new directions and challenging accepted

conventions in bold, unexpected ways.

This course explores the fascinating developments in art music from 1900 to the present. During these

years, composers experimented freely, and musical styles and forms developed at an unprecedented

pace. We’ll discover the various schools of composition through the music of such seminal composers

as Stravinsky, Bartók, Weill, Gershwin, Shostakovich, Copland, Britten, Cage, Glass, and more.

Cross-disciplinary parallels will also be made with visual arts, theatre, literature, dance, and film, as

well as with trends and practises in areas such as economics, politics, media, and technology.

Participants will emerge from this course with an enhanced ability to understand and appreciate the

music of this dynamic time---and of our own.

Suggested text: Alex Ross, The Rest Is Noise (ISBN-13: 978-0-312-42771-9)

Dean Burry is a Toronto-based composer, librettist, and educator. Following saxophone studies at

Mount Allison University, where he began composing operas and musicals, Burry studied composition

at the University of Toronto and began to immerse himself in the Canadian opera world. In 1997, he

was hired by the Canadian Opera Company to create the After-School Opera Program, a community

program which has met with great success and continues to this day. The following year, he was

commissioned to write The Brothers Grimm, which is believed to be the most performed Canadian

opera. He has also composed music for film and musicals; incidental, choral/scared, and chamber

music; and solo piano works. His many works for young people have been produced nationally and

internationally in cities including St. John’s, Charlottetown, Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Saskatoon,

Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria, Nashville, Sarasota, and Cardiff, Wales. His serial radio opera, Baby

Kintyre, commissioned by CBC Radio, was nominated for a Prix Italia International Broadcast Award,

and in 2011 Burry received the prestigious Louis Applebaum Composers Award. He teaches at the

Glenn Gould School.

Notes:

Students may purchase 2 passes to 21C Music Festival (May 20–24, 2015: 8 concerts, 5 nights) at 10%

off, while quantities last. Call (416)408-0208 or visit the Weston Family Box Office after registering.

Music Appreciation and History The Royal Conservatory of Music

The Requiem: Music of Rest, Peace, and Consolation

Instructor: Rick Phillips

Thursdays, 1:00-3:00 • March 26 to April 23 (5 weeks) • $250

The requiem has evolved from a composition intended to be performed during formal liturgical

services into a genre of its own, heard regularly in concert halls around the world. A requiem is the

musical setting of the ancient Mass for the Dead or Missa Pro Defunctis, so named because it begins

with the words “Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine” (“Give them eternal rest, O Lord”). For

centuries, composers have been inspired by this ancient text, reflecting upon the meaning and

message of life and death, as well as life after death, in different ways; while some have dealt with the

fear of death, others have concentrated more on the rest and peace that death brings, and still others

have focused on the consolation of the living.

This course will be a fascinating and uplifting survey of perspectives on our own human mortality---and

immortality---through music, from the Renaissance to the 20th century. Works studied will include

Mozart’s Requiem Mass, Brahms’s “German” Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem, Fauré’s Requiem, and

Britten’s War Requiem.

Rick Phillips was affiliated with CBC Radio for 30 years, working in Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary,

and Toronto in a career that spanned production to management to on-air. For 14 years, he was the

Host and Producer of SOUND ADVICE, the weekly guide to classical music and recordings heard

across Canada on CBC Radio One and CBC Radio Two every weekend. As well as broadcasting and

webcasting, Rick is a busy freelance writer and reviewer, speaker, panel moderator, consultant,

musical tour guide, and concert host. He’s often a juror in the classical music categories for the Juno

Awards, and is the author of “The Essential Classical Recordings – 101 CDs,” published by

McClelland & Stewart. Rick delivers music history and appreciation courses at a range of institutions

and organizations across the city. He holds a B. Mus. from McGill University and an M. Mus. from the

University of Toronto.

www.soundadvice1.com

Music Appreciation and History The Royal Conservatory of Music

Troubadours, Tudors, and Beyond:

Music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Early Baroque

Instructor: Alison Melville

Wednesdays, 10:00-12:00 • April 8 to April 29 (4 weeks) • $195

What exactly was the “volta” that Queen Elizabeth I danced for her pre-breakfast exercise? Is

“Gregorian” the only kind of chant? What’s a “shawm”? This course offers an introductory survey of

the intriguing, evocative music of the Medieval, Renaissance, and early Baroque periods of European

music. Participants will explore the major instrumental and vocal forms of music, from 13th-century

Spanish pilgrimage songs and the chant of Hildegard of Bingen, to the birth of opera in late 16th-

century Italy. In between, we will consider the dances and instrumental music of the Tudor court, the

Arabic origins of many musical instruments, sacred music by Jewish as well as Christian composers,

and much more. Through active listening, visual examples, short readings from contemporary

sources, and animated discussion, participants will enrich their appreciation of this intriguing repertoire

and broaden their musical horizons!

Special guest mezzo-soprano Laura Pudwell will visit to share her thoughts on the differences

between “early” and “modern” singing, and at the final class Toronto Consort Artistic Director David

Fallis will set the stage for The Toronto Consort’s presentation of the 13th-century Play of Daniel, one

of the most important works of medieval liturgical theatre.

Long recognized as one of Canada’s bright lights on historical flutes and recorders, Toronto-born

Alison Melville’s career as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician with many ensembles has

taken her across North America and to New Zealand, Iceland, Japan, and Europe. A member of the

Toronto Consort, Ensemble Polaris, and Artistic Director of the mixed media Bird Project, Alison

appears regularly as a soloist and orchestral player with with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, and as a

guest with other ensembles across North America. She was Artistic Co-Director for 22 years of the

chamber concert series Baroque Music Beside the Grange. Some memorable career moments

include playing for The Tudors, CBC-TV’s The Friendly Giant, and Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet

Hereafter; solo shows in inner-city London (UK) junior schools; a recent recital in sunny southern

Spain; and, oh yes, a summer of concerts in Ontario prisons. Alison has been heard on CBC/Radio-

Canada, BBC, RNZ, NPR, and Iceland State Broadcast Service, and on over 55 CDs, including five

critically acclaimed solo recordings. A professor at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music (USA)

from 1999 to 2010, she now teaches at the University of Toronto and Wilfrid Laurier University.

Notes:

Students receive a complimentary ticket to the May 24 performance of The Play of Daniel by The

Toronto Consort, at 3:30 pm at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, Jeanne Lamon Hall, 427 Bloor St. West (at

Spadina).

Music Appreciation and History The Royal Conservatory of Music

Music Through the Ages: Romantic Era

Instructor: Clayton Scott

Thursdays, 10:00-12:00 • April 16 to May 14 (5 weeks) • $250

Take a musical “stroll” through the Romantic era and discover (or rediscover!) the music and the world

of this fascinating historical period. How were the key composers and their most enduring works

shaped both by the political and social contexts of the time and by other arts such as drama, literature,

and architecture? In this lively presentation/performance series, the great masterworks will come alive

as we investigate: Who wrote them? When? Where? Why? Who was the first audience? And, why

have these works endured?

We will begin with a spirited investigation of the concrete: the social history, manners, clothing, art,

and politics of the era; and then move to the abstract: components of musicianship found in specific

works by composers such as Schubert, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Tchaikovsky, and more. Key

passages—what in the music makes it a “masterwork”—will be demonstrated at the piano and

discussed. Occasionally, Ms. Scott will present a dramatic performance of a specific work over music

recorded by world-class orchestras and singers. Classes will include active listening with “guided tour”

commentary, interactive components related to understanding the music we hear, opportunities for

score study (no experience necessary!), and class discussion.

Clayton Scott, ARCT (Piano Performance, RCM), BA (University of Toronto), has taught piano,

harmony, and music history since 1969. She is a Member of the College of Examiners, Royal

Conservatory of Music. In 1992, Ms. Scott developed the lecture/performance series Music Through

the Ages, a music appreciation and history course now consisting of over 75 titles that she has

presented in Canada and the United States. Ms. Scott has a particular interest and expertise in

working with the adult learner both individually at the piano and in group workshop classes such as

Perform with Poise and Pizzazz!, which help musicians of all ages and stages gain comfort, security,

and joy in sharing their music. In addition to her teaching, Ms. Scott adjudicates piano festivals;

conducts piano master classes; gives professional development and motivational lectures for

teachers, parents, and students; and presents opera, ballet, and music history workshops for a range

of associations and institutions across North America.

http://www.claytonscottmusic.com/

Music Appreciation and History The Royal Conservatory of Music

Klezmer Music

Instructor: Mike Anklewicz

Wednesdays, 7:00-8:30 • April 15 to May 6 (4 weeks) • $150

When most people hear the word “klezmer,” they immediately think of the popular Broadway (and

movie) musical Fiddler on the Roof. However, Klezmer’s history and distinctive sound goes back much

farther. Where did Klezmer begin, what were its influences, and what are the musical and cultural

characteristics that define the genre? This four-week survey course will delve into Klezmer’s rich

history, starting from its roots as Jewish instrumental celebration music from Eastern Europe, through

its Golden Age in North America from the 1920s to the 1940s, to the revival of Klezmer that began in

the mid-1970s after decades of disinterest and neglect. We’ll hear some of Klezmer’s early stars,

including Belf, Dave Tarras, Abe Schwartz, and Naftule Brandwein, and learn about the strong

influence of the Yiddish Swing movement in the 1930s and 1940s that led to the creation of enduring

hit songs like “Bei Mir Bistu Sheyn.” Finally, the course will conclude with an examination of the

diverse and exciting international Klezmer music scene, in which Canada, Canadians, and Toronto

play a big role.

Mike Anklewicz is a successful performer and teacher of klezmer, classical, and jazz music. He holds

a PhD in ethnomusicology from York University, where he studied the fusion of klezmer with other

styles of music; a Master of Music degree in saxophone performance from the New England

Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts; and a Bachelor of Music in composition and saxophone

performance from Queen’s University. Mike has been performing, recording, and lecturing in Toronto

and around the world, with performances in Canada, the US, Germany, and the UK; he has recorded

with several groups in Canada, the US, and the Czech Republic. Mike is the founder of KlezFactor,

whose two recordings have garnered critical acclaim; the group has performed in Canada, the US,

and Germany, and their music has been heard on CBC Radio and on the Global Television Network.

Another career highlight for Mike was his appearance on the TV series Kenny vs. Spenny. He is

currently the saxophone instructor at the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Music Appreciation and History The Royal Conservatory of Music

Impressionism: Painting in Sound

Instructor: James Stager

Mondays, 1:00-3:00 • April 13 to May 4 (4 weeks) • $195

The late 19th century was a time of great artistic experimentation in France. Painters such as Claude

Monet and August Renoir were searching for new ways to capture the luminous haze of the changing

light on natural scenes, while poets such as Charles Baudelaire and Paul Verlaine were seeking a

more suggestive mode of expression in their free verse. A similar spirit of innovation was found in the

music of French composers Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and others. Their works, which

emphasize atmosphere and suggestion, express ideals similar to those to which artists in these other

artistic domains aspired. What inspired the experimentation that marked this fascinating period, in

music and beyond? What key characteristics unite the music of these composers, and in what ways

does their music represent a departure from what came before? This course will examine the artistic

currents that led to what is now called Impressionist music --- a term that was rejected by those to

whom it was applied --- including Impressionist painting and Symbolist poetry, and the principal

composers and their most important masterworks.

On Sunday, April 19 at 3pm, the French pianist Hélène Grimaud performs a programme that includes

a number of impressionist works in Koerner Hall. See the special ticket offer below.

James Stager is a sought-after trombonist, pianist, and educator. He teaches music theory, music

history, low brass, and jazz improvisation at The Royal Conservatory as well as at several of Toronto’s

performing arts schools, and music theory at York University. He is frequently heard in concert halls,

festivals, and nightclubs in a wide variety of musical settings including symphony orchestras (Toronto

Philharmonia), musical theatre (Shaw Festival and Soulpepper Theatre), world music (Moda Eterna,

Caché), and jazz groups (Big Rude Jake, Red Hot Ramble). In addition to his teaching and performing

career, as a member of The Conservatory’s College of Examiners, James adjudicates woodwind,

brass, and percussion examinations throughout Canada and the United States, and evaluates written

examinations in music theory and history.

Notes:

Students may purchase 2 tickets to Hélène Grimaud (Koerner Hall; Sunday, April 19 at 3pm) at

10% off, while quantities last. Call (416)408-0208 or visit the Weston Family Box Office after

registering.