In Thursday’s (2/2) Toronto Star, Trish Crawford reports, “The Toronto Symphony Orchestra has commissioned composer Tod Machover to write a symphony about Toronto using the ideas and suggestions of the city’s own citizens. No musical expertise is required in the interactive project which will use the internet to feed suggestions for content to Machover, music director Peter Oundjian announced Wednesday. In presenting the 2012/2013 schedule, Oundjian promised there’d be ‘lots of surprises.’ ‘It is important that what we do is not predictable,’ he said, in announcing a program that mixes ‘the old and the new’ and features 40 Canadian performers and composers. For example, the opening concert will feature old standby Brahms Violin Concerto played by James Ehnes but also a comparatively fresh 1985 composition by John Adams, Harmonielehre. … In the spirit of surprises, Oundjian also announced a new visual element in performances that will include the orchestra playing Leonard Bernstein’s score from West Side Story while the audience watches a remastered film behind them onstage. In partnership with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the TSO has commissioned photographer James Westwater to photo-choreograph Smetana’s Czech homeland for a production of Ma Vlast.”
Posted February 2, 2012
