May 25 – June 7, 2020
Bringing you chamber music at its best…virtually.
Generously sponsored by Fred and Elizabeth Fountain
Although Scotia Festival of Music 2020 may have been cancelled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show must go on!
We are pleased to present a special two-week virtual classical music festival, featuring brand new live performances, and some old favourites, including never-before-seen footage of great concerts from past festivals…all free of charge.
Program details are below, or you can download a printable schedule.
Managing and Artistic Director Simon Docking tells us about "Scotial Distancing".
Shiny new tools.
As part of this initiative, we are upgrading The Peggy Corkum Music Room with state-of-the-art livestreaming equipment, including multiple remote-controlled cameras and broadcast quality sound. These resources will be available to the local arts community at large, to allow all of us to send our performances out to the world.
Concert Listings
Most concerts are available for archival viewing at the links below.
Stream #1: Peter Allen LIVE from The Music Room
Monday, May 25 at 7:30pm AST (6:30pm ET)
Unstoppable Halifax piano virtuoso Peter Allen opens Scotial Distancing with sparkling Haydn, virtuosic Liszt, and the massive opening movement of Beethoven’s legendary Hammerklavier.
Haydn – Sonata No. 49 in E-flat
Beethoven – Hammerklavier Sonata, first movement
Liszt – Song Transcriptions
Stream #2: Connesson, Glass, Haydn
Tuesday, May 26 at 7:30pm AST (6:30pm ET)
Plenty of action with Guillaume Connesson’s Techno Parade, Tim Fain’s blazing performance of Philip Glass’s Knee Play 2, and the stormy side of Haydn from the Super Nova Quartet.
Connesson – Techno Parade (Recorded 2019)
Patricia Creighton, flute
Dominic Desautels, clarinet
Simon Docking, piano
Glass – Knee Play 2 (Einstein on the Beach) (Recorded 2018)
Tim Fain, violin
Haydn – String Quartet in G minor, Op. 74 No. 3 – Fourth Movement: Allegro con brio (Recorded 2019)
Mark Fewer, violin
Scott St John, violin
Douglas MacNabney, viola
Denise Djokic, cello
Stream #3: Glass, Novacek
Wednesday, May 27 at 7:30pm AST (6:30pm ET)
Some footage from Philip Glass’s historic visit to Scotia Festival in 2018, followed by Mark Fewer with two high-octane rags by John Novacek, with the composer at the piano.
Glass – Etudes 9 and 10 (Recorded 2018)
Philip Glass, piano
Philip Glass interviews Chris Wilcox (Recorded 2018)
Novacek – Two Rags (Recorded 2019)
Mark Fewer, violin
John Novacek, piano
Stream #4: Martinu, Schafer
Thursday, May 28 at 7:30pm AST (6:30pm ET)
In 1993, legendary Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer visited Scotia Festival and directed an outdoor performance of his environmental performance piece Music For Wilderness Lake. We recently found some footage…
Martinu – Violin Sonata in D minor – Third Movement: Allegro (Recorded 2019)
Mark Fewer, violin
John Novacek, piano
R. Murray Schafer – Music For Wilderness Lake (Excerpts) (Recorded 1993)
Featuring Charles Schlueter, trumpet
Judith Forst, mezzo-soprano
Barbara Hannigan, soprano
Patricia Green, mezzo-soprano
Stream #5: Sokolovic, Glass
Friday, May 29 at 7:30pm AST (6:30pm ET)
Spectacular violist Marina Thibeault gives us a new performance of Canadian composer Ana Sokolovic’s Prelude for Solo Viola. Violinist Tim Fain and composer / pianist Philip Glass play Pendulum, one of Glass’s most loved and most characteristic works.
Ana Sokolovic – Prelude for Solo Viola (Recorded 2020)
Marina Thibeault, viola
Glass – Pendulum (Recorded 2018)
Tim Fain, violin
Philip Glass, piano
Stream #6: Brahms Horn Trio
Saturday, May 30 at 7:30pm AST (6:30pm ET)
For nearly forty years, Philip Myers was principal horn with the New York Philharmonic. An old friend of Halifax and Scotia Festival, he returned in 2019 for Brahms’s sublime and passionate Horn Trio.
A conversation with Philip Myers (Recorded 2020)
Brahms – Horn Trio, Op. 40 (Recorded 2019)
Philip Myers, horn
Tim Fain, violin
Andrew Armstrong, piano
Stream #7: Docking and Decosse LIVE from The Music Room
Sunday, May 31 at 7:30pm AST (6:30pm ET)
Live from the Music Room, bass-baritone Jon-Paul Decosse and pianist Simon Docking bring us Ravel’s elegant portrait of Don Quixote, and the most romantic of all song cycles: Schumann’s A Poet’s Love.
Ravel – Don Quichotte à Dulcinée
Schumann – Dichterliebe
Stream #8: Adams
Monday, June 1 at 7:30pm AST (6:30pm ET)
American master John Adams’ funky and uplifting Hallelujah Junction gets a high-powered performance from our good friends, pianists John Novacek and Andrew Armstrong.
Adams – Hallelujah Junction (Recorded 2019)
Andrew Armstrong, piano
John Novacek, piano
NOTE: This stream is not available for archival viewing.
Stream #10: Cello Spectacular LIVE
Wednesday, June 3 at 7:30pm AST (6:30pm ET)
A cello spectacular, with guest host Cameron Crozman live from Montreal!
Rossini – Duetto for cello and bass (Recorded 2019)
Blair Lofgren, cello
Joe Phillips, double bass
Bach – Cello Suite No. 1 (Performed Live)
Cameron Crozman, cello
More pieces TBA
Stream #11: Schubert
Thursday, June 4 at 7:30pm AST (6:30pm ET)
One of Schubert’s greatest chamber masterpieces in a magical performance from Scotia Festival 2018.
Schubert – String Quintet in C Major (Recorded 2018)
Axel Strauss, violin
Elissa Lee, violin
Sharon Wei, viola
Blair Lofgren, cello
Cameron Crozman, cello
Stream #12: Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Vivaldi
Friday, June 5 at 7:30pm AST (6:30pm ET)
Mark Fewer teams up with John Novacek to give us Prokofiev in a fiery mood, and with harpsichordist Hank Knox to present some Vivaldi in a beautiful setting. Scotia Festival favourite Dominic Desautels gives us a brand-new Stravinsky recording.
Prokofiev – Sonata in F minor, Op. 80 – Second movement: Allegro brusco (Recorded 2019)
Mark Fewer, violin
John Novacek, piano
Stravinsky – Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet (Recorded 2020)
Dominic Desautels, clarinet
Stravinsky – March from The Soldier’s Tale (Recorded 2020)
Dominic Desautels, clarinet
Elissa Lee, violin
Simon Docking, piano
Vivaldi – Violin Sonatas in D minor (Recorded 2019, courtesy of Leaf Music)
Mark Fewer, violin
Hank Knox, harpsichord
Streams #9 and 13 Combined: Schubert, Mozart, Kreisler, Brahms
Saturday, June 6 at 7:30pm AST (6:30pm ET)
NOTE: In support of #theshowmustbepaused and #blackouttuesday, Stream #9, originally scheduled for Tuesday, June 2nd, was broadcast as part of Stream #13. Click here to view a letter from our Managing and Artistic Director.
Our Super Nova Quartet, with the uniquely bittersweet Romanticism of Schubert. Festival regulars Airi Yoshioka and John Novacek give us brand new performances of works by Mozart and Kreisler. And In 2019, four virtuosi gave us a lusty and exciting performance of a masterpiece by the young Johannes Brahms.
Schubert – Quartet in A minor (“Rosamunde”) – Fourth movement: Allegro moderato (Recorded 2019)
Mark Fewer, violin
Scott St John, violin
Douglas McNabney, viola
Denise Djokic, cello
Interview with Chris Wilcox (Recorded 2020)
Mozart – Violin Sonata in A Major, K. 402 (Recorded 2020)
Airi Yoshioka, violin
John Novacek, piano
Kreisler – Syncopation (Recorded 2020)
Airi Yoshioka, violin
John Novacek, piano
Brahms – Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25 (Recorded 2019)
Tim Fain, violin
Sharon Wei, viola
Matt Haimovitz, cello
John Novacek, piano
Stream #14: Pierre Boulez Gala from 1991
Sunday, June 7 at 7:30pm AST (6:30pm ET)
Every year we end Scotia Festival with all our Young Artists and Guest Artists onstage together for an orchestral gala. It’s always a special event, but 1991 will always be a legendary year in our history – the great French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez joined us for two weeks, concluding with this massive concert in the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, which led The Globe and Mail to describe Scotia Festival 1991 as “the greatest music event in Canada’s history.” Historic footage – never before seen!
Bartók – The Miraculous Mandarin
Debussy – La mer
Stravinsky – The Rite of Spring
The Scotia Festival Orchestra
Pierre Boulez, conductor
This stream is no longer available for archival viewing.