OF WISDOM – Lauren Greenberg – Odin Quartet 

Odin Quartet perform "Of Wisdom" by Lauren Greenberg

Composed by Lauren Greenberg.

Performed by Odin Quartet (Alex Toskov, violin; Tanya Charles Iveniuk, violin; Rae Gallimore, viola; Samuel Bisson, cello.

Audio recorded by Desert Fish Studios (Toronto, Ontario, Canada). Audio mixed and mastered by Brandon Walker. Video edited and produced by Devin Scott.

ABOUT THE COMPOSER: Lauren Greenberg was born in 2001 and is from Toronto, Canada. She began piano lessons at the age of 5, and has completed her Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) Level 9 Piano, RCM Level 9 Harmony, and RCM Level 8 Theory. Lauren began her musical composition studies in 2014. Most recently she was a student of the eminent Canadian composer Kevin Lau. During the summer of 2018, Lauren attended the High School Composition Intensive Program at Boston Conservatory at Berklee and is currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Music in Composition Degree Program at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Lauren has composed a variety of musical pieces across classical and modern genres, and her works have been performed in Toronto, Ottawa, and Boston. She studied the flute and vocals at her high school where she was a member of the Junior, Senior, and Jazz Bands. Lauren was also a member of the school choirs in both high school and in grade school. She played the piano for her high school musicals, vocal performances, and assemblies. In 2019, Lauren was the recipient of the Music Award – Lisa-Ann Lauren Posluns Memorial Endowment Fund, for her exemplary contribution to the school’s music program during her four years of study.

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS: Odin Quartet has become one of Canada’s most popular and sought-after string quartets. The Odins have been the ensemble-in-residence of the SPO since 2017. There’s so much more to learn and appreciate about the Odins, so visit their links below.

PROGRAM NOTES FROM LAUREN GREENBERG: This music is inspired by the Odin Quartet (Odin, known as the god of wisdom). I adopted that name as the title. Learn more about Lauren Greenberg: https://laurengreenbergmusic.com/ | https://acwc.ca/auren-greenberg |    / @laurengreenbergm…  . Learn more about Odin Quartet: http://odinquartet.com/.

HALLUCINATIONS – Daniel Mehdizadeh – Alexander Panizza

Composed by Dr. Daniel Mehdizadeh. Performed by Alexander Panizza (piano).

Video edited and produced by Dr. Daniel Mehdizadeh. Audio recorded by Alexander Panizza. Audio mixed and mastered by Devin Scott.

ABOUT THE CREATOR: There is something vividly distinct about Daniel Mehdizadeh’s music. This Canadian composer is revered for his intricate, unpredictable and haunting works. The sound and gesture of his pieces bury themselves deep in complex imagination, participating you in an exploration of uncertain visceral implications.

ABOUT THE PERFORMER: Alexander Panizza is an extremely talented master pianist who has been very generous in his work with the SPO, especially during the pandemic and lockdown years here in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada. Alexander performs (and has multiple fans) through the Americas. He not only performs some of the most challenging classical music pieces, but is also versatile in many genres and styles of piano music.

The SPO is extremely grateful for the funding support of: Canada Council for the Arts | Toronto Arts Council | SOCAN Foundation.

Learn more about Dr. Daniel Mehdizadeh: https://www.danielmehdizadeh.com/home.

Learn more about Alexander Panizza: http://alexanderpanizza.com/.

CALL OF THE PAPER KITE – Kevin Zi-Xiao He – Alexander Panizza

Composed by Kevin Zi-Xiao He. Performed by Alexander Panizza (piano).

Audio recorded and mastered by Alexander Panizza.

Video edited by Xu Zhiwei.

ABOUT THE COMPOSER: Kevin Zi-Xiao He is a Chinese-born composer who immigrated to Canada in his mid-teen years. With a particular interest in popular and traditional music of East Asia, Kevin has studied with renowned figures such as Gary Kulesha and Alexander Rapoport. His works have been showcased in international new music festivals in North America, Asia, and Europe. Kevin is a current doctoral candidate in composition in the studio of Dr. Christos Hatzis, at the University of Toronto.

ABOUT THE PERFORMER: Alexander Panizza is a master pianist who is known throughout the Americas for his incredible interpretations of great classical works, as well as other genres and style of piano music.

PROGRAM NOTES FROM MR. HE: “Call of the Paper Kite”, composed in 2014, was inspired by a vague fragment of my memory of a movie scene I had watched as a young child: during WWII in Northeastern China, the commander of the Japanese army brought his daughter, a six year old girl, who became friends with a Chinese orphan boy. The two children, against all odds of war and brutality, beyond the barrier of language and nationality, saw the most innocent and pure friendship blossom between them, flying a paper kite together every day, into sunset…

The SPO is very grateful for the funding support for this work and other projects from: Canada Council for the Arts | Toronto Arts Council | SOCAN Foundation.

To learn more about Kevin Zi-Xiao He: https://www.hezixiao.com/ | https://www.instagram.com/kevinhezixiao/ |    / @hezixiao  .

To learn more about Alexander Panizza: http://alexanderpanizza.com/.

RUBATO ROBOTO – Bruno Degazio – Alexander Panizza

Composed by Bruno Degazio. Performed by Alexander Panizza (piano).

Video edited and produced by Bruno Degazio. Audio recorded and mastered by Alexander Panizza.

ABOUT THE CREATOR: Bruno Degazio is a talented Canadian composer who is also professor of Digital Tools in the Classical Animation program of Sheridan College, recently voted top animation school worldwide by Animation Career Review magazine. He has extensive experience in cinematic sound design, including special-effects for the Oscar-nominated documentary film, “The Fires of Kuwait” and music for the IMAX films “Titanica” and “CyberWorld-3D“, as well as many other films and television dramas. As a researcher in computer applications for the arts he has published papers on music composition using fractals and genetic algorithms. He is the author of “The Transformation Engine“, a software system for music composition and data sonification. He is currently investigating the algorithmic combination of OpenGL graphics with computer music composition.

Alexander Panizza is a master pianist who performs all kinds of music throughout the Americas. He also produces music performance videos. The SPO greatly appreciates the funding support for this video from: Canada Council for the Arts | Toronto Arts Council | SOCAN Foundation. To learn more about Bruno Degazio: http://sheridan4thyear.blogspot.com/p…. To learn more about Alexander Panizza: http://alexanderpanizza.com/.

SPO Re-stream of our Sat-Sep-24 Live Concert 

The Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra and Dancing Damsels proudly present this re-stream of our Sat-Sep-24-2022 live concert, “Mixing It Up!”. Enjoy the wonderful music performed by: Alexander Panizza (piano), Odin Quartet (Alex Toskov, Tanya Charles Iveniuk, Matt Antal, Samuel Bisson), Ronald Royer (cello), Kaye Royer (clarinet), Declan Scott (trumpet), and Larkin Hinder (bassoon). While this concert was live-streamed to YouTube and Facebook on Sep-24, due to technical issues, not everyone was able to access the stream as expected, or at the time we expected. This concert was made possible in part by Dancing Damsels and their grant from Canadian Heritage. We appreciate this partnership and the wonderful team at Dancing Damsels Inc., with support from Jaison Mathew (Director, Dancing Damsels and Director, Canadian Multicultural News). Additional funding support from Toronta Arts Council. Performed live at Kingston Road United Church.

Streamed by Ars Musica: Colin Mendez Morris (Director, Camera Operator rear, Live Switching), Carson Davidson (Camera Operator right, file transfers), and Kareem Mansour (Camera Operator left). Additional video and audio post-production by Devin Scott.

0:00 Three minute countdown

3:00 Introduction and O, Canada (Devin Scott, SPO Executive Director)

5:45 Welcome message (Mary Ashok, Dancing Damsels)

11:13 Introduction to “La Revue de Cuisine” (Ronald Royer, SPO Music Director & Conductor)

14:19 “La Revue de Cuisine” (The Kitchen Revue) – Bohuslav Martinů

26:03 Introduction to “Danzon Nicaraguense” (Alex Sandoval, composer) World Premiere

27:27 “Danzon Nicaraguense” 32:34 Introduction to “Images” by Saman Shahi (on behalf of ICOT composers)

34:25 i: “Dunes” – Maziar Heidari, ICOT

36:56 ii: “Canabrake” – Keyan Emami, ICOT

39:10 iii: “Carnival” – Saman Shahi, ICOT

42:13 Introduction of Alexander Panizza (Ronald Royer)

44:11 “Danza de la Moza Donosa” from “3 Danzas Argentinas, Op. 2” – Alberto Ginistera

48:18 “Alborada del Gracioso” – Maurice Ravel

55:53 Introduction of Odin Quartet (Alex Toskov)

57:31 “Slavonic Dance No. 2 in E minor, Op. 72” – Antonín Dvořák

1:02:37 Introduction to “Musical Angels” (Ronald Royer, composer) World Premiere

1:05:35 “Musical Angels”

1:14:58 Introduction to “Final Variant Dance” by Samuel Bisson (Rachel Ray McFarlane, composer)

1:16:19 “Final Variant Dance”

1:18:52 Introduction to “Lullaby Liaisons” (Kye Marshall, composer)

1:23:18 “Lullaby Liaisons”

1:30:01 Introduction of final four pieces from popular films (Ronald Royer)

1:32:22 “With Malice Toward None” from “Lincoln” – John Williams

1:37:40 “Cantina Band” from “Star Wars Ep. IV – A New Hope” – John Williams

1:40:38 Medley of “O, Saya”, “Latika’s Theme”, and “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire” – A. R. Rahman, Arranged by Larry Moore 1:46:21 Closing Remarks (Ronald Royer)

1:47:34 “Viktor’s Tale” from “The Terminal” – John Williams

1:52:08 Closing Credits #SPOGreatMusic #DancingDamsels #MixingItUp

ELEGY – Elizabeth Raum – SPO Chamber Ensemble 

Composed by Elizabeth Raum; Performed by the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra Chamber Ensemble (Gillian Howard, oboe / Corey Gemmell, violin / Brenna McLane, viola / Ronald Royer, cello). Video edited and produced by Eero Daniel-Raum. ——————————–

NOTES FROM THE COMPOSER, ELIZABETH RAUM: “Elegy” was excerpted from the concerto for oboe, “Phantom Drum,” which was originally commissioned by Joseph Salvalaggio and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. Lois Fuse, a friend of the composer and an oboist, asked her to excerpt the slow, lyrical section from the concerto as a separate piece. Raum expanded the excerpt to make it a complete piece by itself. Then later, she was asked by the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra to transcribe the piece again for oboe and string trio for the members of the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra. The video for the recording was created by Elizabeth’s grandson, Eero Daniel-Raum. His vision upon hearing the music was that it suggested to him the soaring of birds on the wing. ——————————–

Learn more about Elizabeth Raum: https://elizabethraum.com/

MISTICO from “String Quartet No. 1” – Ronald Royer – Odin Quartet

Mistico” from “String Quartet No. 1”; Composed by Ronald Royer; Performed by Odin Quartet (Alex Toskov, violin / Tanya Charles Iveniuk, violin / Laurence Schaufele, viola / Samuel Bisson, cello). Featuring Mark Asselin as “The Observer”.

VIDEO: Director: Jamie Way. Video edited by Samuel Bisson. Cinemaphotographer: Darcy Way. Editor: Samuel Bisson. Producer: Igor Vrabac. Learn more about the Odin Quartet: http://www.odinquartet.com. Learn more about Ronald Royer: https://www.ronaldroyer.com.

OASIS – ICOT – Odin Quartet 

WARNING: This video may potentially trigger seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy. Viewer discretion is advised.

Composed by ICOT (Iranian-Canadian Composers of Toronto; Saman Shahi, Keyan Emami, and Maziar Heidari); Performed by Odin Quartet (Alex Toskov, violin / Tanya Charles Iveniuk, violin / Rae Gallimore, viola / Samuel Bisson, cello).

Audio recorded at Desert Fish Studios, Toronto (Jeff Wolpert, Engineer). Audio edited by Brandon Walker. Audio produced by Ronald Royer. Video edited and produced by Naghmeh Ghasemzadeh. ——————————————

NOTES FROM THE COMPOSERS: “Oasis” in three movements is a composition by members of ICOT (Saman Shahi, Keyan Emami, Maziar Heidari) for string quartet. The piece explores the vagueness and intangibility of mirages in both physical and spiritual realms. While aspects of the piece have inspirations from poetry and other extra musical sources, the composition is mostly an abstract expression of what oasis means to each composer in their own personal ways. Toronto-based artist Naghmeh Ghasemzadeh also added her own layer of artistry by creating video art for the piece using patterns, textures, visual loops, and abstract imagery. “This video includes footage, textures and visual loops from its creator (NAG). In addition, still images from Unsplash website were used to create some of the visual loops.

The still images were created by: Alexander Ant, Pawel Czerwinski, Ricardo-Gomez-Angel, Christopher Burns, Casey Horner and Hao Wang.”

Night Star Album Launch

Friday, Feb 24, 2023 • Album release concert featuring music by Debussy, Ravel, and Royer • Tickets at https://spo.ca/event/night-star-concert • Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, 115 Simpson Street. Presented by the Scarborough Phiharmonic Orchestra and Akashic Classics @akashicrekords6447.

This concert program features chamber music by Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Ronald Royer — and includes the album launch of “Night Star, Chamber Music by Ronald Royer”. The concert will feature renowned musicians, including harpist Erica Goodman; pianist Alexander Panizza; clarinetist Kaye Royer; Odin Quartet; and the Canadian Sinfonietta Chamber Ensemble. PROGRAM:

Debussy – Danse sacrée et danse profane, for harp and strings

Debussy – L’isle Joyeuse, for piano

Ravel – String Quartet in F Major: Allegro moderato

Royer – Danzón Overture, for String Quartet and Percussion

Royer – Mistico, for String Quartet Royer – Musical Angels, for String Quartet

Royer – Night Music, for Piano: A Nostalgic Waltz

Royer – Night Music, for Piano: Bartok Meets the Blues

Royer – Night Star, for Solo Clarinet, Harp, Glockenspiel, String quartet, and Bass

ARTISTS PERFORMING AT THIS CONCERT:

Erica Goodman, harp (   / erica goodman – t…  )

Alexander Panizza, piano (@AlexanderPanizza)

Kaye Royer, clarinet (https://www.kayeroyer.com/)

Alejandro Céspedes, percussion (@musicale84)

Odin Quartet (@OdinQuartet)

Canadian Sinfonietta Chamber Ensemble, Joyce Lai, artistic director, and violin (@canadiansinfonietta)

IMMORTAL STONE – Alex Sandoval – performed by Ronald Royer and Talisa Blackman

Composed by Alex Sandoval. Performed by Ronald Royer (cello) and Talisa Blackman (piano).

Audio recorded by Jeff Wolpert (Desert Fish Studios, Toronto). Audio mixed by Bruno Degazio. Video created and edited by Devin Scott (Executive Director, The Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra; Executive Producer/Editor, SPOGreatMusic Digital) Alex Sandoval is a talented composer who has been part of the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra’s New Generation composer’s program. “Immortal Stone” was composed by Alex based on inspirations drawn from his visits to Casa Loma, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

A portion of the funding for Alex’s composition and SPO-related projects comes from the Toronto Arts Council, SOCAN Foundation, and the Canada Council for the Arts. The SPO greatly appreciates this support of our programs and our focus on Canadian composers and talent.