Vox Humana - soundaXis Festival

An exploration of the human voice as a pure instrument.

Tuesday, June 6, 2006 at 4PM
A FREE performance as part of the soundaXis festival
MaRs Centre
101 College Street, Toronto

For Immediate Release - Toronto, June 1, 2006: Toronto’s Talisker Players presents Vox Humana, an exploration of the human as a pure musical instrument interacting with other instruments. This free performance, which is part of the soundaXis festival, features the ensemble along with guest artists Heidi Klann (soprano) and Vilma Indra Vitols (mezzo soprano). Vox Humana underscores the human voice’s unique power to communicate even without words.

The concert takes place in the atrium at MaRS – headquarters of the soundaXis festival – and, in keeping with the mandate of the festival, the space will be as much a part of the performance as the players.

The programme feature Agon, a new work by the award-winning Toronto composer Abigail Richardson for two voices and string quartet. The title refers to a dramatic form from ancient Greece in which there is a verbal contest between two characters in a play. In this case the characters are the singers, and the string quartet plays the role of the Greek chorus, commenting on and also judging the drama, and eventually restoring harmony. This work was commissioned by the Talisker Players with the assistance of a grant from the Laidlaw Foundation.

Vox Humana also features a of composers from Canada and other countries, from a broad time-span and with many different combinations of instruments. Vocalises are usually thought of as exercises for singers, but the form has inspired many composers to write some of their most beautiful music. The concert includes works by Canadian Harry Freedman (for voice and flute), as well as international figures Ralph Vaughan Williams (voice and clarinet), Heitor Villa-Lobos (voice and violin), and David Diamond (voice and viola).

Canadian soprano Heidi Klann has performed extensively across North America and Europe, to the delight of critics and audiences alike. She is equally at home in opera, oratorio and recital. Her wide repertoire ranges from early baroque to contemporary: her credits include Buxtehude’s Magnificat, Bach’s St. John Passion, Handel’s Messiah and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass. Opera appearances include Monica in Menotti’s The Medium for the Orford Arts Festival, Clitoria in Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre, and Madame de Tourvel in Conrad Susa’s The Dangerous Liaisons at the Banff Centre for the Arts. A committed concert and recital artist, she has appeared with the Aldeburgh Connection in Toronto, the Spectrum Concert Series in Edmonton, and has premiered works written for her by Canadian composers James Rolfe, Andrew Ager, and Alain Beauchesne. A recipient of numerous awards and scholarships, Ms. Klann has been awarded, among others, the Luciano Pavarotti Scholarship, the Johann Strauss Foundation Scholarship, the Winspear Foundation Scholarship, and the Diane Thorssen Usher Award for Outstanding Vocalist. She was also a semi-finalist in the Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition.

After completing her M.A. in philosophy, mezzo-soprano Vilma Indra Vitols went on to full-time music studies at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music. Operatic credits include the title role in Bizet’s Carmen for Summer Opera Lyric Theatre, Nancy in Britten’s Albert Herring with the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh, England, and Hansel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel with the Canadian Opera Company’s Outreach tour. She has appeared with Opera Atelier’s productions of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Lully's Persée and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in Toronto. She will return in 2006 for Die Zauberflöte (in Toronto and on tour in Asia). A frequent performer of new music, Vilma has had works written for her by several Canadian composers including John Hawkins and Talivaldis Kenins.

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Media Contact: Francine Labelle/flINK
416-654-4406
labellefrancine@rogers.com

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