Happy New Year from North Wind Concerts! May 2024 be a year of peace and goodwill, and lots of excellent live music.
We’re happy to announce that on Saturday January 20, the ACTA Recorder Quartet is back to ‘live’ action after their lengthy pandemic hiatus. They will present Puzzle Me This, a kaleidoscope of Renaissance, Baroque and modern-era music, performed on Renaissance and modern consort instruments (SATB). The members of the ACTA Recorder Quartet are Avery MacLean, Colin Savage, Tatsuki Shimoda and Alison Melville.
“…an eclectic program characterized by impeccable ensemble work, flawless intonation, and beautifully shaped musical lines.” (TEMPO Newsletter)
The brain-stimulating program for Puzzle Me This includes fugues, canons, quodlibets and a palindrome by J.S. Bach, Christopher Gibbons, John Lloyd, Frans Geysen, and from the 15th-century Dijon Chansonnier. Also included are canzonas, chansons and other music by Adriano Banchieri, Attaignant and Canadian composers Wolfgang Bottenberg and Kelsey Jones. Rounding out the program are excerpts from Cipriano da Rore’s madrigal A la dolc’ ombra, with decorations by Dalla Casa sprinkled tastefully between all four parts.
And there will be door prizes!
Saturday January 20, 2024
7:30 p.m
Heliconian Hall (35 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto).
Pay-What-You-Wish at the door, or purchase tickets in advance here: https://bemusednetwork.com/events/detail/1010
More info on the program and performers is also available there.
One of Canada’s few professional recorder consorts, the Toronto-based ACTA Quartet has been making music together since 2015 and brings together a multi-generational group of players with a wealth of performing experience. Their ever-expanding repertoire casts a wide net, from Renaissance dance tunes and Baroque fugues to arrangements of Sousa marches, Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, Joplin’s rags, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, The Girl from Ipanema, and beyond. Of particular interest for ACTA is the substantial repertoire of modern-era music for recorder consort from Canada, the USA, Japan and Europe, with its diversity of influences, styles and techniques. With such a range of music and using the diverse colours of the recorder consort (sopranino to great bass), ACTA seeks to broaden the public’s awareness and appreciation of their instrument and its repertoire. The ACTA Recorder Quartet members are Alison Melville, Colin Savage, Tatsuki Shimoda and Avery MacLean. They are joined from time to time by former member Anne Massicotte, Ondrej Golias, and/or other guests.
“Wonderful music, excellently played!…The meticulous and articulate playing of the quartet was clearly evident…Even without words, they were able to convey both the sauciness and sadness of the French chansons.” (Toronto Early Music Centre)