Montreal-based violinist Marc Djokic is often in Ottawa in performance including at Chamberfest this week. He regularly joins with the percussionist Beverley Johnston in a duo that displays a range of styles and sounds. Included in their show this week is a Canadian premiere of
Stanley Kubrick had some of the surest instincts for music of anyone in the history of film. The director understood better than most music’s power to elevate a scene to iconic status. Without the majestic pedal C opening of Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra, it
It's been 20 years since a version of the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge performed at Chamberfest. But in the history of the ensemble that is but a blink of time. Choirs were singing in Trinity College in the 14th century. A more formal organization was
Talking to Cris Derksen about the music she plays is a walk through many different doors. As she tells it she plays "sounds that are contemporary, indigenous, electro, new wave, classical. It's genre undefined. It's a little bit of everything. It fits into lots of boxes but
Carissa Klopoushak is wide open and full throttle when it comes to her musical interests. She's a violinist in the NAC Orchestra, she is part of a chamber quartet called the Ironwood String Quartet and she co-founded a nine-year-old festival in her home town of Saskatoon. She
The Miró Quartet brought its Texas-sized sound to Chamberfest Monday night with a steak-and-potatoes program of Haydn, Dvořák and late Beethoven. The concert was presented as a tribute to Joseph Kun, the Czech violinist, instrument-maker and inventor, who developed his renowned shoulder rest after immigrating
Harry Hyman (Hy) Bloom was the son of a tailor but he was much more interested in the sound a stereo needle could create. As a young man Bloom was fascinated by sound. According to a biography on the website of the Ottawa Country Music Hall of
The American film director Stanley Kubrick only made 12 feature films and yet they are some of the most iconic in the history of 20th century cinema. Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Dr. Strangelove, Spartacus, these titles speaks volumes about the director's art. But why are
Hinrich Alpers is a German pianist who just happens to love French music. "There are actually two focal points in my repertoire right now. Beethoven is one. He is the most important German composer and as I won the Beethoven competition in Bonn, Germany, several years
There comes a time in any career when a change is required. It's not always because the job has become onerous or even odious. Sometimes it's just that you have ambitions that you want to pursue. Matthew Larkin has reached that point. After more than a dozen years as the
