Sinfonia Toronto w/ cellist Shauna Rolston May 14, 2010

May 14, 2010, 8:00pm
Glenn Gould Studio (250 Front St. W)
SINFONIA TORONTO
NURHAN ARMAN, Conductor
SHAUNA ROLSTON, Cellist
A grand-finale with a cello superstar
PUCCINI Crisantemi
CHAN KA NIN Soulmate for Cello and Strings
SCHMIDT Cello Concerto – World Premiere!
TCHAIKOVSKY Nocturne for Cello and Strings
TCHAIKOVSKY Valse Sentimentale
BRAHMS Sextet in G Major op. 34

On May 14th at 8:00pm, Sinfonia Toronto concludes their 2009/2010 Masterpiece Series. A grand-finale with a cello superstar, this concert features Sinfonia Toronto’s 2009/2010 Composer in Residence Heather Schmidt’s Cello Concerto in its World premiere, performed by virtuoso cellist Shauna Rolston.

Cellist Shauna Rolston is one of the most distinctive and compelling voices of her generation. Armed with stunning technique and exquisite interpretational abilities, and always a passionate advocate for new music, Shauna once premiered five concertos composed expressly for her in the same season. A prolific recording artist, her discography includes two CDs that are included on a global list of 13 “Cello Recordings to Please Discriminating Audiophiles” (Benjamin Ivry).

Heather Schmidt lives a dual life as a busy concert pianist, and a prolific composer of concert music and film scores. She has been nominated for the Juno Award for Classical Composition of the Year, won the Julliard Composers’ Competition, as well as two SOCAN Composer’s Competitions, and 3 consecutive BMI Awards. In the past decade, Dr. Schmidt has received over forty commissions, and recorded for NAXOS and CBC Records.

Sinfonia Toronto is comprised of thirteen virtuoso string players. “A world-class ensemble,” according to Germany’s Russelsheimer Echo, they perform standing, in the tradition of great chamber orchestras, under the direction of Music Director and conductor Nurhan Arman. A roster of Toronto’s finest woodwinds, brass and percussion joins the strings for select programs, drawn from the full range of chamber orchestra repertoire. The Toronto Star writes of "a remarkable range of colour," "ample eloquence" and "gripping authority," while La Scena Musicale declared: "Nurhan Arman and his orchestra literally conquered us." Their most recent CD, Flanders Fields Reflections features the 2009 Juno Award winner for Classical Composition of the Year, a Sinfonia Toronto commission composed by John Burge.

The programme for the evening also includes Puccini’s Crisantemi, Chan Ka Nin’s Soulmate for Cello and Strings, Tchaikovsky’s Nocturne for Cello and Strings and Valse Sentimentale and Brahms’ Sextet in G Major op. 34.

Tickets for this premium concert are $19 - $49 and are available through the Roy Thomson Hall box office at www.roythomson.com, 416-872-4255. Visit www.sinfoniatoronto.com for more information.

Official Website: http://www.sinfoniatoronto.com