Tag: Classical Music

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Leaf Music and Mark Fewer Presents Alikeness

LM296 Alikeness Front Cover

Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music and Canadian violinist Mark Fewer announce the launch of Alikeness (LM296), available August 16 in digital and physical format. Alikeness features the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra Sinfonia together with percussionist. Aiyun Huang, soprano Deantha Edmunds, and violinist/conductor Mark Fewer in an all Canadian, all strings-based program.  

Fewer says the album is inspired by the human capacity to learn, adapt, and collaborate, and encourages listeners to find their own “alikenesses” within the music while fostering a deeper connection with one another: “Continually experiencing new things but using what is already inside of us, as a way to make our worlds larger, expanding ad infinitum… If we don’t immediately understand something, we use a memory to help us relate. Over the course of my own life as a musician, it has been those inquiring artists who relate to one another as open systems who have inspired me the most.” 

The NSO Sinfonia, based in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, was founded by Peter Gardner and features core string players from the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra.  

Violinist and conductor Mark Fewer has been interpreting music in virtually every genre and setting for over three decades, premiering over 200 works, including more than 50 written for him. His unique discography features multiple JUNO and Grammy-winning recordings and an Opus Prize for a Serge Arcuri tribute. He has served as Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony, Artist-in-Residence at Stanford, William Dawson Scholar at McGill, and is currently Head of Strings at the University of Toronto. After 16 years as the founding artistic director of the SweetWater Music Festival, he is now in his sixth season and the Artistic Director of Stratford Summer Music.   

Deantha Edmunds, Canada’s first Inuk professional classical singer, was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in December 2023 for her work empowering Indigenous people and sharing their stories. Her performances, writing, and compositions have earned national and international acclaim.  

Born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Aiyun Huang holds a DMA from UC San Diego and is the Head of Percussion at the University of Toronto, directing its Percussion Ensemble. She gained international recognition by winning First Prize and Audience Prize at the 2002 Geneva International Music Competition.  

The album opens with the world premiere of Deantha Edmunds’ Angmalukisaa (“round” in Inuktut), a personal composition about human connections; Edmunds’ four songs are arranged by Bill Brennan, Andrew Downing, Jeff Johnston, and Robert Carli. The next three works feature Fewer as violin soloist and conductor:  Épisodes by Serge Arcuri, (written for the Montreal Baroque Orchestra in 1998,) blends the baroque “concerto grosso” form with modern elements; Matt Brubeck’s The Simple Life, has been newly arranged by Andrew Downing for strings; and the third movement “C” from B-A-C-H by Robert Carli (after J.S. Bach’s surname), was composed in 2013 for the Sweetwater Music Festival. The album concludes with Alikeness, Yoshiaki Onishi’s arrangement of an eight-movement suite by Jaroslaw Kapuściński.  The suite was originally composed in 2015 for the St. Lawrence String Quartet and percussionist Aiyun Huang.  

Get your CD copy of Alikeness, or listen to it on your favourite streaming platform. Alikeness is available on all streaming platforms.     

Alikeness was recorded January 14-17, 2024, in St. John’s, and produced by Jeremy VanSlyke and Nathan Cann for Leaf Music with assistance from The Canada Council for the Arts. 

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca (902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Leaf Music Distributes Light & Dark with Catherine Little & Greg Myra

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music announces the distribution of a new digital recording, Light & Dark (CG2024) with cellist Catherine Little and pianist Greg Myra.

Light & Dark is an impassioned and energetic interpretation of historic music for modern listeners. Cellist Catherine Little and pianist Gregory Myra’s performance of Mendelssohn’s joyful D major and Shostakovich’s angsty D minor cello sonatas is a storytelling of the wonder and adversities of life. The album is a follow-up to the duo’s 2021 release, Taking Five, which won the 2022 Nova Scotia Music Award for Classical Album of the Year, and was praised by La Scena magazine for “…eloquently balancing graceful repetition and magical moments.” Visit catherlinelittle.com to learn more. 

Listen to Light & Dark wherever you stream your music: https://leaf-music.lnk.to/cg2024

Listen to Taking Five on your favourite streaming platform: https://leaf-music.lnk.to/CL2021b

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca (902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Leaf Music Distributes Defiant Dances with Symphony Nova Scotia

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music announces the distribution of a new digital recording, Defiant Dances (SNS2024) with Atlantic Canada’s only professional orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia under the direction of Holly Mathieson. The orchestra presents a recording of exceptional live performances featuring internationally beloved pianist Sara Davis Buechner and works by four extraordinary women composers.  Defiant Dances celebrates the momentous contribution women have made throughout orchestral history and is available for purchase and streaming on all major platforms on May 3.

The album includes Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement and Louise Farrenc’s Overture No. 1 in E Minor. Two Canadian composers – Alice Ping Yee Ho and Karen Sunabacka – round out the featured works. Sunabacka’s Born by the River (for string orchestra) was originally commissioned by the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, inspired by her Métis grandmother, Lenore Clouston (nee Birston).

Alice Ping Yee Ho’s The Phantom Bird of Han won the 2022 Maria Anna Mozart Award and was premiered by Symphony Nova Scotia in March of 2023. Launched in 2016, the Award supports the work of Canadian women composers, providing $10,000 for Symphony Nova Scotia to commission and perform a new symphonic work. The Phantom Bird of Han was featured on the CBC music program In Concert with Paolo Pietropaolo as part of an International Women’s Day broadcast and was heard in the Atlantic provinces on both CBC Music and CBC Radio on The East Coast Music Hour with Bill Roach.

Noted for her musical command, cosmopolitan artistry, and visionary independence, Sara Davis Buechner is one of the most original concert pianists of our time. She has performed in every state and province of North America and commissioned and premiered important contemporary scores by composers such as Michael Brown, John Corigliano, Ray Green, Dick Hyman, Jared Miller, and others. Ms. Buechner has released numerous acclaimed recordings of rare piano music by composers such as Rudolf Friml, Dana Suesse, and Ferruccio Busoni. A dedicated Yamaha Artist, Ms. Buechner also appears as a speaker and performer as a proud transgender woman.

Listen to Defiant Dances wherever you stream your music: https://leaf-music.lnk.to/sns2024

Symphony Nova Scotia is Nova Scotia’s orchestra, championing symphonic music in the province for 40 years. With a home base in Halifax/K’jipuktuk and performances across the province, Symphony Nova Scotia is proud to be a vibrant, vital part of Nova Scotia’s rich cultural community. From sold-out orchestral concerts to free family events, youth and seniors’ activities, and educational partnerships, Symphony Nova Scotia creates unforgettable experiences with truly great music. Visit symphonynovascotia.ca to learn more.

For more information: please visit:

www.hollymathieson.com

saradavisbuechner.com

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca (902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Leaf Music Distributes Black Sea, Orange Tree with Leah Plave and Tong Wang

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music announces the distribution of a new digital recording, Black Sea, Orange Tree (LPTW2023) from cellist Leah Plave and pianist Tong Wang. In two major works, this music tells the story of train rides through the Himalayas, ancient folk dances, rowdy bar fights, glittering golden temples and the smell of tea leaves. The culmination of many years of collaboration, research and travel, the album is available for purchase and streaming on all major platforms on April 26.

Turkish pianist/composer Fazıl Say’s Four Cities and acclaimed Canadian composer Alice Ping Yee Ho’s Four Impressions of China weave special techniques into lush melodies, at times beautifully transforming the cello and piano into traditional Turkish and Chinese instruments. Specially commissioned for the duo and a parallel to Say’s sonata, Ho’s suite is inspired by four distinct regions of China: Hunan, Tibet, Heilongjiang, and Hong Kong.

The album was recorded at Studio Piccolo, Montreal in September of 2023 and produced by sound engineer Veronica Galicia Lopez.

Tong and Leah met in Montreal in 2017, where they embarked on a musical journey as part of Z4Piano Quartet. The pair gave countless recitals throughout Canada, the US, China, and Northern Europe, often specializing in lesser-known repertoire by women and contemporary composers. They have also had artist residencies in Beijing and Nova Scotia.

Tong Wang (tong-wang.com), a Canadian pianist, is recognized for her innovative contributions to performance, research, and community engagement. Her work investigates the intersection of art with identity, culture, and contemporary socio-political themes. Tong’s performance history includes collaborations with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Red Deer Symphony Orchestra, and ensembles throughout North America and Europe. A versatile artist, she has spearheaded the creation of a new horror anime opera, Labyrinth of Tears, alongside research into the aesthetics of “cuteness” in music, supported by the Canada Council, FRQSC, and SSHRC. Wang’s recent tours have spotlighted multiculturalism and interactive experiences, such as “我们Us” and “We’re Not Really Strangers” in Lunenburg, Montreal, Basel, Budapest, and Verbier. In 2022, she founded the Windwood Music Festival in Airdrie, Alberta, to bring classical chamber music to rural communities. Wang continues to embark on solo and chamber tours across the US, Canada, and Europe, showcasing her dedication to fostering global connections through art.

Leah Plave (leahplave.com) reaches beyond the traditional role of a cellist, performing not only classical repertoire but also electronic, experimental, non-western, and historical music. An outspoken advocate for inclusive programming and undiscovered voices, she frequently works with living composers and values interdisciplinary, cross-cultural projects. Leah has lived and toured extensively across North America, China, and Europe – by the age of 24, a four-time immigrant.

Based in The Netherlands since 2020, Leah is an Artist in Residence at Studio LOOS (Den Haag) where her performances focus on music for acoustic cello and live electronics. Her recent solo tours have been appreciated in spaces ranging from posh concert halls like Rotterdam’s De Doelen, historic Italian theatres, and eclectic clubs such as Amsterdam’s Sexyland World.

Listen to Black Sea, Orange Tree wherever you stream your music: https://leaf-music.lnk.to/lptw2023

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca (902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Leaf Music Distributes Six Degrees: Music for Violin and Strings – Mayumi Seiler and friends

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music announces the distribution of a new digital recording: Six Degrees: Music for Violin and Strings (MS001) by acclaimed Canadian violinist Mayumi Seiler, being released on March 29. Drawing on inspiration from life’s connections and relationships, the violinist is joined by colleagues from her illustrious career’s past and present to produce five works written for violin and strings. Top Canadian string players along with formerly mentored students form the ensemble, while the repertoire is composed by longtime collaborators and composers who inspired them. Six Degrees is a celebration of the relationships that keep us interconnected.  

Joining Mayumi Seiler on this recording are cellist Rachel Mercer, bassist Joe Phillips, violist Ryan Davis, violinists Hee-Soo Yoon and Isabel Lago, as well as harpist Ben Albertson. The recording was produced by Denise Ball with Pouya Hamidi as recording engineer.

Featured composers include Franz Schubert, Montreal-based composer Michael Oesterle, Massenet (Meditation, transcribed for violin, strings and harp), and Métis composer Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk, whose A Search for Resonance beautifully melds with the virtuosic elegance of classical elements. Saskatchewan composer Ryan Davis created a duet for violin and viola for the album, Lavender Jump, inspired by the fields of purple flowers in his native province.

Mayumi Seiler (mayumi-seiler.com) is renowned for her exciting performances of concerto, recital, and collaborative works both live and on disc. She has appeared as soloist with major symphonies in international venues such as Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw, Musikverein, Barbican, Royal Festival Hall, and collaborated with such noted conductors as Kent Nagano, Sir Neville Marriner, Sandor Vegh, Maxim Vengerov, Christopher Hogwood, Hugh Wolff, Peter Oundjian, and Richard Hickox. Among her extensive list of recordings are the Beethoven and Mendelssohn Concertos, the three Haydn Concertos with the City of London Sinfonia and Richard Hickox conducting on the Virgin Classics label, and Stravinsky’s Le Baiser de la Fée with the Hong Kong Philharmonic under David Atherton (Virgin Classics). Her many recordings of chamber music, include works of Schumann, Dohnanyi, Boccherini and Mozart (Hyperion and Capriccio labels.)

While nurturing a busy schedule as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, Japan and the Americas, Ms. Seiler founded Toronto’s Via Salzburg – acclaimed as “One of the best roads to our musical hearts” (Toronto Star). In Via Salzburg she led a string orchestra in regular performances at the Glenn Gould Studio for sold out audiences. Through fourteen seasons she curated programs with internationally renowned artists, combining varied art forms such as dance, pantomime, and painting with music.

An active and passionate teacher, Mayumi Seiler serves on the faculty at The Glenn Gould School in Toronto. She’s held a professorship at the University Mozarteum in Salzburg, given masterclasses worldwide and adjudicated at numerous international violin competitions.

She began her musical upbringing in Osaka, Japan, where she was born of Japanese/German parentage. Wedded to the violin from the age of three, Mayumi received her musical education at the renowned Mozarteum during her formative years in Salzburg. She performs on a JB Guadagnini of 1740.

Listen to Six Degrees wherever you stream your music: https://leaf-music.lnk.to/ms001 

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca (902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Leaf Music Distribution Presents Space Time Continuo and terra e cielo

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music announces the distribution of a new recording, terra e cielo (STC2024) from Montreal’s Space Time Continuo baroque bass ensemble. This captivating album, to be released on March 8, re-imagines Italian vocal and instrumental music spanning the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. It features works by Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi, Diego Ortiz, Giulio and Francesca Caccini and Girolamo Frescobaldi.  

Created in 2019 and directed by cellist Amanda Keesmaat, the fluid personnel of Space Time Continuo perform on plucked strings, keyboards, and low-pitched bowed and wind instruments. Terra e cielo features musicians Amanda Keesmaat (cello and lirone); Antoine Malette-Chénier (triple harp); Karim Nasr (dulcian); Jessica Korotkin (cello and viola da gamba); Christophe Gauthier (harpsichord and organ); Sylvain Bergeron (archlute); and a cameo from Vincent Lauzer (bass recorder). A new addition to the ensemble, a lirone made by Francis Beaulieu in 2023, provides an auditory window into the divine, depicting heavenly scenes that were commonly presented in early Italian works. This lirone (or lira da gamba) is a string instrument used to realize figured bass with fifteen gut strings and fretted neck. When played, it’s held between the legs like a cello or viola da gamba. 

The album was recorded at Oscar Peterson Hall, Concordia University, Montreal and was produced by and supported by CALQ (Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec) and the Canada Council for the Arts. This is the third album from this ensemble; learn more at spacetimecontinuo.com.

Listen to terra e cielo wherever you stream your music: https://leaf-music.lnk.to/stc2024.

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT:  

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca (902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Leaf Music and Luminous Voices Present: Fire-Flowers

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music and Calgary’s Luminous Voices announce their new album Fire-Flowers, exploring themes of loss, grief, and hope. The album’s centrepiece is Brahms’ beloved Ein deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem) in a special collaborative arrangement for two pianos. The Requiem was first composed as a “cantata of grief,” likely inspired by the death of his Brahms’ mother in 1865 and dear friend Robert Schumann in 1856. Two new works by Canadian/American composer Zachary Wadsworth (also a chorister on the album) round out the recording; Battle-Flags, inspired by Walt Whitman’s Civil War experiences, and a setting of E. Pauline Johnson’s Fire-Flowers, a poem of optimism and renewal. The evocative purple flowers, often referred to as “fireweed” in North America, are the first signs of life after a wildfire, a beautiful, symbolic sign of hope emerging from tragedy.

Fire-Flowers was commissioned by Luminous Voices and premiered in November 2021 with the same musicians involved in this recording. Battle-Flags was commissioned by the Choral Arts Society of Washington and premiered in 2015. The recording was supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, donor Patricia Grindlay and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Luminous Voices, Calgary’s professional chamber choir, was founded in 2012 by conductor and Artistic Director Timothy Shantz. Luminous Voices comprises some of the best ensemble singers in the Calgary area, collaborating with singers and musicians across North America.  The ensemble’s debut release with Leaf Music, Sea Dreams, was nominated for Classical Album of the Year – Vocal/Choral at the 2021 JUNO awards.  The group also received an exciting feature in the United States, with NPR offering a national story about the group’s innovative and COVID-friendly “car choir” performances presented at the height of the pandemic.

Featured soloists Laura Brandt (soprano), Jonathon Adams (baritone), Cheryl Emery-Karapita (piano), and Leanne Regehr (piano) collaborated to bring these pieces to life. The recording sessions took place in Calgary, at the Bella Concert Hall, Mount Royal University. In June of 2023. The recording sessions were produced by Jeremy Van Slyke, engineered by Zana Warner, and in-house audio editing by Haruka Nagata.

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.  

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MEDIA CONTACT:  

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews please contact Peggy Walt,  peggy@leaf-music.ca (902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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“MESSIAH” – Ensemble Caprice, Karina Gauvin, Ensemble ArtChoral, Matthias Maute, Jaap Nico Hamburger

(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music is proud to present a new recording of highlights from Handel’s Messiah, featuring soprano Karina Gauvin and bookended by two new choral works by Montreal-based composers, Jaap Nico Hamburger and Matthias Maute. Maute also conducts Ensemble ArtChoral and Ensemble Caprice in these vibrant new choral recordings, which will be available for purchase, download, and on all streaming platforms as of November 5, 2021.

Matthias Maute conducts Ensemble ArtChoral and Ensemble Caprice in performances of Handel’s Messiah throughout the month of December, including Maison symphonique in Montreal (Dec 12) and Palais Montcalm in Quebec (Dec 17). See the complete schedule here

While Handel’s masterpiece has been heard and recorded often, the musicians experienced a feeling of renewal this year: “During the live recording, in an empty hall, it felt like we all were hearing this famous oratorio for the very first time,” says Maute, “After the long drought brought on by the pandemic, this first reunion of choir and orchestra in a wonderful concert hall felt like the rebirth of the spirit of music!”

While sanitary restrictions necessitated a small number of singers – the ensemble has just 12 voices – this is not out of character for the work, though many are used to hearing massive musical forces for the bombastic Hallelujah chorus. Handel himself had a choir of only 16 singers at his disposal when he travelled from London to lead the first performance of his oratorio in 1742 in Dublin. “The flexibility and lightness of a12-voice choir reveals fascinating layers of the work,” comments Maute.

The new recording also includes a short dialogue between Handel and two living composers, with new choral works from the two Mécénat Musica composers in residence, Jaap Nico Hamburger’s Hope and Belief, on a Yiddish text by Isaac Leib Peretz, and Matthias Maute’s O magnum mysterium, which aims to grasp something of the elusive mystery of music. These two works set the theme for the Mécénat Musica Mini-Concerts Santé in the summer of 2020, which delivered music to thousands during lockdown, spreading the magical force of music to help get through the crisis.

Two-time JUNO Award-winning conductor, composer, recorder and flute soloist Matthias Maute has achieved an international reputation. In 2016 he was named artistic director of the Bach Society of Minnesota and in 2019 of Ensemble ArtChoral. Maute is co-artistic director of the Montreal Baroque Festival and artistic director of the Mécénat Musica Concerts Noncerto concert series and has released 20 recordings on various labels.

Maute founded Ensemble Caprice, praised by The New York Times as “imaginative, even powerful; and the playing is topflight.” Known for an innovative and adventuresome approach to an expanding musical repertoire, Ensemble Caprice has performed in 11 festivals, embarked upon its first Latin American tour, and made its third trip to China in addition to an inaugural tour in South Africa. Instigator of the Mini-Concerts Santé, Ensemble Caprice received the Opus Award for Musical Event of the Year 2020 for this project. Through 1,700 musician hires of professional singers and instrumentalists who perform with 184 classical music organizations, $464,000 were paid directly to the artists who were out of work due to COVID-19.

In 2019, Maute was named Artistic Director of Ensemble ArtChoral, a professional choir steeped in the grand tradition of choral music in Quebec. The choir’s director, Maute, received one of his two JUNO awards for his album with choir, entitled Vivaldi and His Angels, From 2021 to 2023, Ensemble ArtChoral is embarking upon a unique project: Art Choral, the history of choral singing through six centuries.

Renowned for her performances of Baroque repertoire, Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin sings the music of the 20th and 21st-centuries with equal success. She has received many prestigious distinctions, including “Soloist of the Year,” awarded by the Communauté internationale des radios publiques de langue française, the Virginia Parker Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Maggie Teyte Memorial Prize in London. Performing in opera and with symphony orchestras throughout the world, Gauvin boasts a discography of over 50 titles, garnering three Grammy nominations, and multiple JUNOs and Opus Prizes.

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across Canada. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.

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MEDIA CONTACT: 

For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Peggy Walt, peggy@leaf-music.ca (902) 422-5403 (office) or (902) 476-1096 (cell).

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Hank Knox | Scarlatti: Essercizi Per Gravicembalo

October 1, 2021 (Halifax) Award-winning artist and early-music musician Hank Knox is pleased to present Scarlatti: Essercizi Per Gravicembalo, released through Halifax-based record label Leaf Music. Like so many musicians, Knox found himself with a lot of time on his hands during the pandemic. He spent the past 10 months completely immersed in Domenico Scarlatti’s only authorized publication, a collection of thirty sonatas first published in 1739 in London, England.  Knox’s recording of the Essercizi Per Gravicembalo offers the listener a deep dive into Scarlatti’s richly inventive and imaginative musical world. Essercizi Per Gravicembalo, meaning “Exercises for Harpsichord,” is a virtuosic collection that has been in uninterrupted print since its publication 275 years ago. The collection was dedicated to King John V of Portugal, father of Scarlatti’s longtime pupil and patron, Queen Maria Barbara of Spain. Essercizi Per Gravicembalo was recorded by Hank Knox in April 2021 at Église St. Augustin, Mirabel, QC.

“Hank Knox reveals virtuosity, imagination and a keen sense of rhythm.”

— Musica Sett (Italy)

Hailed internationally for his “colorful, kinetic performances,” Hank Knox performs on harpsichord in concert halls, churches, museums, galleries and homes around the globe. A founding member of Montreal’s Arion Baroque Orchestra, with whom he has toured North and South America, Europe, and Japan, Knox also regularly performs and tours with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy and l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, among other groups, ensembles and orchestras. 

He has released a number of acclaimed recordings on rare antique instruments as well as copies of historical instruments. He teaches in the Early Music program at McGill University where he conducts the McGill Baroque Orchestra. He has directed a great number of Baroque operas for Opera McGill, including Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Monteverdi’s Poppea and Handel’s Agrippina, Giulio Cesare, Alcina and Rinaldo.

Hank Knox collaborates regularly with Canadian violinist, Mark Fewer. Their complete recording of the J.S Bach: Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord, BWV 1014-1019 was released on Leaf Music in 2017. The Vivaldi: Manchester Sonatas were arranged and recorded by Fewer and Knox and were released on Leaf Music in 2020. This is the first recording of the works by Canadian artists.

Website / Facebook

Hank Knox | Scarlatti: Essercizi Per Gravicembalo
Release date: Oct 1, 2021
Physical/Digital Release
Listen/Buy HERE

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VC2 Cello Duo Added to Leaf Music Roster

Leaf Music is pleased to announce that Canadian cello duo VC2 is joining the label’s roster.  

Comprised of cellists Amahl Arulanandam and Bryan Holt, CBC Radio describes VC2 as “a tight unit, with excellent intonation and expression.” They present artistically challenging, yet accessible programs in venues ranging from intimate cabarets to Roy Thomson Hall. 

As respected cellists, they have performed as part of leading music organizations including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, National Ballet of Canada Orchestra, Soundstreams, Art of Time Ensemble, Continuum Contemporary Music, New Music Concerts, Music in the Barns, Thin Edge New Music Collective, and others.  

“We are delighted to welcome VC2 Cello Duo to our roster.  Bryan and Amahl are known for their virtuosic energy and playfulness on stage. Moreover, their growing reputation as new music champions makes them an excellent fit for Leaf Music and our shared goal of sharing top-tier Canadian artists and composers with the world. It’s a privilege for Leaf Music to work with this talented duo to present brand new music from composers Laura Sgroi, Kati Agócs, Chris Paul Harman, Vincent Ho, Youell Domenico, Jocelyn Morlock and Kelly-Marie Murphy.” – Jeremy VanSlyke, owner – Leaf Music  

Leaf Music is looking forward to VC2 Cello Duo’s first project with the label set to be released in the fall of 2022.

vc2celloduo.com