Category Archives: Interviews from Music

Insightful and informative interviews with music people

NURHAN ARMAN: CONDUCTOR OF SINFONIA TORONTO AND MAESTRO ON FOUR CONTINENTS: A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on August 21, 2016 by strecker

James Strecker: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on, are preparing, or have recently completed. Why do they matter to you and why should they matter to us? Nurhan Arman: Throughout this summer … Continue reading →

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JAMES EHNES: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ACCLAIMED VIRTUOSO VIOLINIST DUE TO APPEAR WITH THE TORONTO SYMPHONY ON JUNE 9, 10, 11

Posted on June 6, 2016 by strecker

Photo: Benjamin Ealovega James Strecker: You are certainly a presence as a musical figure in the media. Your concerts, recitals, and recordings are frequently reviewed and you often participate in detailed and probing interviews and presentations. Does your existence as … Continue reading →

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BUD ROACH: AN INTERVIEW (PART I) WITH AN EARLY MUSIC DYNAMO ABOUT HIS WIDE-RANGING MUSICAL CAREER AND HIS HAMILTON CONCERT SERIES “HAMMER BAROQUE” (TAFELMUSIK COMING ON MAY 25 AND LUTENIST SYLVAIN BERGERON ON MAY 28)

Posted on April 30, 2016 by strecker

James Strecker: I did quite a double take last year on discovering your Hammer Baroque series of musicians and singers all of international stature and just a mile from my home in Hamilton. Why exactly did you initially establish this … Continue reading →

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LEILA JOSEFOWICZ: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE CELEBRATED VIOLINIST AND PROMOTER OF NEW MUSIC, DUE TO PERFORM A CANADIAN PREMIERE WITH THE TORONTO SYMPHONY IN TORONTO, OTTAWA, AND MONTREAL IN MAY

Posted on April 21, 2016 by strecker

James Strecker: You’re widely respected as a champion of new works –compositions by Adams, Ades, Knussen, and conductor-composer Esa-Pekka Salonen, to name a few- so please tell us what such works bring that is distinctive to the canon of violin … Continue reading →

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ANGELA HEWITT: AN INTERVIEW WITH “THE PRE-EMINENT BACH PIANIST OF OUR TIME” JOINING THE TORONTO SYMPHONY FOR THREE CONCERTS ON APRIL 13, 14, 16 IN TORONTO AND APRIL 15 IN ROCHESTER

Posted on March 30, 2016 by strecker

James Strecker: You’ll be in Toronto and Rochester in April to perform the Bach Piano Concerto in F Minor BWV 1056 and the Bach Piano Concerto in D Minor BWV 1052. To begin, I’d love to know what each concerto … Continue reading →

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DIANA PANTON: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE CANADIAN JAZZ SINGER ON HER JUNO-WINNING CD “RED, HER LATEST CD “I BELIEVE IN LITTLE THINGS” AND ITS 2016 NATIONAL PARENTING PRODUCT AWARD

Posted on March 21, 2016 by strecker

James Strecker: Much has been written about the uniqueness of your voice and its emotional flexibility and truth with a lyric, so let’s ask you yourself to describe your voice and how you use it -in language that feels right … Continue reading →

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BRETT DEAN: THREE MAJOR WORKS BY THE CONTEMPORARY AUSTRALIAN COMPOSER, VIOLIST AND CONDUCTOR ARE FEATURED AT THE TORONTO SYMPHONY’S 2016 NEW CREATIONS FESTIVAL. HERE HE DISCUSSES EACH WORK AND HIS CREATIVE LIFE.

Posted on March 3, 2016 by strecker

Photo by Pawel Kopczynski James Strecker: The Toronto Symphony’s New Creations Festival this year features your Viola Concerto, your Trumpet Concerto, and a suite of excerpts from your 2010 opera Bliss. I’d like to give our readers the special privilege … Continue reading →

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HARRISON KENNEDY: A CHAT WITH A BLUESMAN WHOSE PAST INCLUDES FOUR YEARS WITH CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARD AND WHOSE PRESENT INCLUDES A 2016 JUNO NOMINATION

Posted on February 12, 2016 by strecker

James Strecker: Harrison, your CD ‘This Is From Here’ has been nominated for a Juno as Best Blues Album of the Year. As its creator, what do you especially like about the album and what about it satisfies you the … Continue reading →

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GEMMA NEW: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE NEW MUSIC DIRECTOR OF THE HAMILTON PHILHARMONIC, ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR OF THE NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF THE LUNAR ENSEMBLE, PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR OF CAMERATA NOTTURNA, AND GUEST CONDUCTOR EVERYWHERE

Posted on December 23, 2015 by strecker

James Strecker: One of your mentors, Gustav Meier, once told me that he took exception to a remark made by Leonard Bernstein, I think it was, that when he was conducting he felt like the composer of a given work. … Continue reading →

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DICK GAUGHAN: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE RENOWNED SCOTTISH SINGER, GUITARIST AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST WHO APPEARS AT HUGH’S ROOM IN TORONTO WITH JASON WILSON ON SEPTEMBER 26

Posted on September 6, 2015 by strecker

Jason Wilson & Dick Gaughan James Strecker: I was astounded to read that, because of the political nature of some of your material, folk festivals refuse to book a musician of your stature and quality. What brought this restrictive situation … Continue reading →

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