MUSIC ON FIRE…
Dear Friends,
Today I want to start with a big thank you to all of our donors and supporters who made our 2025 year the success it was! Your support continues to fuel our belief in what we do for the community of Stratford and beyond. Now that our fiscal year has ended (November 30th), we can happily share with you this year end report that details much of the good news!!
2026 is just around the corner, and we've already announced a few of the artists you will be delighted to know are joining us. Coming up first in March is a group that has been at the forefront of progressive music-making for decades (and are one of my personal favourites!) - Montreal's Ensemble Caprice with their concert Vivaldi on Fire. These musicians have been breaking down boundaries since before we started using terminology like "breaking down boundaries"! Always daring and adventurous. Always impactful. Always musically powerful. (Can you tell I'm a fan?) Plus, this concert features music by one of the biggest rock stars (of the early 18th century) - Antonio Vivaldi!! Gramophone Magazine calls them "Utterly Irresistible!" Come find out why on March 11th!! Here's link with more details:
Vivaldi on Fire | Ensemble Caprice
Wednesday March 11, 2026
7:00 p.m.
The Avondale
And here's their very recently released teaser trailer!
(Yes, I'm excited!)
At the time of writing, I am experiencing a musical first as a performer. In preparing Bach's Art of Fugue (historically considered a monumental compositional achievement), the ending of the work has me scratching my head. After an hour of solid fugues, the last movement ends with each performer abruptly stopping one at a time, with the violist left alone for the final notes which fail to complete the work itself. For years it was thought that Bach died at that moment. Now, new research suggests that it was intended to end that way....?? Hmmm....I'm not sure what to make of it. If that’s the case, it does change something that's been held in my mind for decades as truth.
Here's a terrific video of the entire Art of Fugue by some friends in the Netherlands. The work is adaptable to be performed by any number of instrumentations. This one is lavish.
If you're in the Washington, DC area this weekend, you can hear me perform this in the string quartet version at the Smithsonian. Performances on Saturday and Sunday. Here's a link:
