(Frederica von Stade. Photo by Robert Millard. )

Concert: Frederica von Stade in recital with pianist Jake Heggie

When and Where: 7 p.m. July 24, Dominion-Chalmers Church

Tickets: This opening-night concert of the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival is not included in a festival pass. TIckets must be purchased separately, starting at $30 general, $15 for students, at the door.

Information: www.chamberfest.com.

I was delighted when the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival announced it would be opening this year  with a recital by the wonderful American mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, as part of her farewell recital tour of North America.

I unfortunately couldn't make it to von Stade's last recital in Ottawa in 2008, when she sang with bass Samuel Ramey at the National Arts Centre, so I'm looking forward to this one. I have very fond memories of hearing von Stade in recital  in Toronto in the 1990s, including performances at Roy Thomson Hall and at the gem of a recital hall in North York.

I was not living in Ottawa in 1979, but I've heard nothing but raves from those who saw von Stade's performance at the National Arts Centre in Cendrillon that summer, in the glory days when the NAC was still producing opera and making a name for itself with some superb productions. Those who saw it rave about von Stade's singing and her wonderful acting and stage presence.

In the recitals I attended, von Stade was absolutely winning. Not all big-voiced opera singers shine in the  intimate art form of a recital, with just a pianist and an audience to keep them company. Von Stade's singing was never about blasting people out of their seats, but about serving the composers, sharing music that  she loved with an audience, and delivering wonderfully sensitive performances of whatever she sang. Von Stade is one of the few opera singers who can sing a musical theatre or pop tune with convincing feeling and style and a feeling of how to use her voice in a different way than she would in opera.

For the opening of the Chamber Festival July 24, von Stade, 65, will be accompanied by American pianist and composer Jake Heggie, in pieces she chose for their connections to her life and career. She'll also share the stories behind them.

Von Stade, who grew up in New Jersey and first thought she would pursue a musical theatre career, was instead steered to opera and classical music.

Highly praised for her performances of Mozart, Rossini, Richard Strauss and French repertoire, she made more than 70 recordings. Her warm, multi-hued voice and musical sensitivity inspired several composers to write pieces for her. Those composers include Heggie, best known for his opera adapation of Dead Man Walking, in which Von Stade  played the mother of the killer who's on death row. She will sing three Heggie songs at her Ottawa recital.

In her musical reflection on her life and career, she will also perform arias from Mignon and Werther and songs by Mahler, Poulenc, Copland, Ravel, Sondheim and William Bolcom, among others. Bolcom's  witty Amor will give von Stade a chance to display the comic flair she's always had in cabaret-style material.

She sang many of the same pieces for her farewell recital at Carnegie Hall in April, to a capacity audience that demanded several encores. New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini  said that while her voice is naturally not what it was in her vocal prime,  “in the ways that matter to great vocal artistry, Ms. von Stade...sang beautifully... the qualities that have endeared her to audiences for 40 years -- musicianship, sensitivity, dramatic flair balanced by grace and elegance, personal warmth -- were still there."

I reached Frederica von Stade at her home near San Francisco recently to chat about her farewell, the pieces she chose for her goodbye recitals and some of the projects that will keep her busy, including running music programs in low-income inner-city schools. I've included some excerpts from the chat, followed by video clips that demonstrate the kind of singing that made her so loved by her fans.

Q:  Has it been an emotional experience to do these goodbye performances?

Von Stade: No, not deeply sad. I've been feeling happy, enormously grateful and enjoying trips down memory lane. In Ottawa, I remember that I had the very best time when we did Cendrillon all those years ago. I remember having a cute little house near the canal. My daughter was one, and it was so much fun. So I don't feel sad. I'm doing music that I love, and working with Jake Heggie. He's a great artist and composer and a dear friend. I'm also doing a lot of other things. I'm trying to start music programs in schools, and I just had a granddaughter, so I haven't even been thinking of music.

Q. Looking back on your career Is there anything you're proudest of? What did you most enjoy?

Von Stade: I guess I'm proudest of surviving. The thing I enjoyed the most was the camaraderie with colleagues. That was the most joyful part, as well as obviously the music-making. I've loved every split second of it. I think I'm most proud in my life of who my two daughters are, the kind of people they are. I'm proud that they put up with this vagabond singing mother and survived it and did OK and now have their own families.

Q. Can you talk about how you chose the music for your farewell recitals?

Von Stade: They're all favourite pieces, first of all, but I also knew I wanted to do a slightly different kind of recital. I picked a way of making it autobiographical, and I picked songs that went with my story. There's quite a bit of talking in between to tell my story.

For example, a few songs touch on my Catholic eduction - Virgil Thomson's A  Prayer to St. Catherine and Copland's Why Do they Shut Me Out of Heaven?, a setting of an Emily Dickinson poem.

For a while, I lived in Greece with my mom right after the war, so I picked one of Ravel's Greek Songs. When I was at the Met, I auditioned with an aria from Werther, so I sing that and tell the story of my audition.

I sing a wonderful Mahler song about a contest between a cuckoo and a nightingale that's judged by an ass. So that goes with all my experience of auditioning. 

I do Send in the Clowns, because I did the part of Desirée (in Sondheim's A Little Night Music) , and that song is very much about retiring, getting old.

I sing Carol Hall's song Jenny Rebecca, because I named my daughter after that song. I finish with a beautiful song of Jake Heggie's on a poem by Sister Helen Prejean, to honour her, because I was in Dead Man Walking. It's her poetry, but it kind of says how I feel about my life a little bit. Those are a few that I've chosen.

Q. Do you have a performance ahead that you've announced will be your final concert?

Von Stade: No, because it seems I keep getting asked to do more performances. But what I do now is give a large portion, if not all, of my fee either to my (children's) choir or the Young Musicians Program I'm involved with. I just take expenses and travel. The young musicians program is for kids aged 10 to 18, inner-city kids. They have an intensive music program in the summer and get all their private lessons paid for. Then they get a full scholarship to college or university. We also have a choir that's now in its fourth year at an elementary school that mainly serves disadvantaged kids. We have a choir, a guitar program, we're starting violin in kindergarten. I take the older kids to opera dress rehearsals and performances in San Francisco. We just have a ball. I don't teach it right now, but I'm going to learn to teach them. It's what I'd like to do.

Q. What prompted your involvement in that area?

Von Stade: I met a nun who runs the school and I asked if they had a music program. She said no, so I offered to help her start one. My theory is that something is better than nothing. It's awful when a school has no music. What it gives the children is a great sense of stature for themselves. They perform and people admire them, and their sense of self esteem is heightened. It's good for everything in their lives. Even if these children don't blossom musically, they're exposed to something they wouldn't have otherwise had. Music has been so astonishing for me. It was my life. I went from little kid to opera singer, all because of music.

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(Soprano Yannick-Muriel Noah, seen here in Madama Butterfly at the Canadian Opera Company, performs in recital July 25 at Venturing Hills. Photo by Michael Cooper for Canadian Opera Company)

CBC Television will record a recital by Ottawa soprano Yannick-Muriel Noah  at Venturing Hills Farm July 25 as part of the final weekend of programming for Festival Pontiac Enchanté. The classical music  festival will present its final concerts at the farm July 23, 24 and 25.

Programmed by Ottawa pianist Jean Desmarais, the festival presents performances in an intimate 120-seat air-conditioned music studio at the farm.

Noah received rave reviews when she made her debut starring in the Canadian Opera Company's production of Madama Butterfly last fall. She studied with Ottawa soprano Yoriko Tanno-Kimmons and later was part of the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio, which offers advanced training for young singers beginning their careers. Her recital at Venturing Hills starts at 2 p.m.

She will sing arias from Madama Butterfly and Aida and Korngold's Die tote Stadt as well as music by Weill,  Strauss, Fauré, Britten and others.

Other performances in the closing weekend include the July 23 concert, which will include a performance of Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time.

The pieces for the final concert July 25 at 6 p.m. will include Barber's  Dover Beach for baritone and string quartet, with baritone Denis Lawlor.
The closing concert will also include a piece by the superb Ottawa sax player Victor Herbiet, a Tango for Violin, Sax and Piano.

Musicians performing in the final weekend include pianist Roland Graham, cellist Thaddeus Morden, clarinetist  Nicolas Tremblay, pianist Carson Becke, violinists Mitchell Gibbens-Schneider and Tait Becke. among others.

Tickets are $20, except for the recital by Noah, which is $35. Because seating is limited and the farm is about a 40-minute drive from downtown Ottawa, it's a good idea to call and ensure tickets are available: 819-455-2574.  Information: www.venturinghills.ca.

Here's the rundown of remaining concerts, from the festival's website:


Friday July 23 - 7:30 pm
$20
Music and spirituality!
Bach and Messiaen!

Roland Graham, piano

BACH

• 15 sinfonias

Entracte

Yolanda Bruno, violin

Thaddeus Morden, cello

Nicolas Tremblay, clarinet

Jean Desmarais, piano

MESSIAEN

• Quatuor pour la fin du Temps

Saturday July 24 - 7:30 pm
$20
West meets East!
Fuzzy Bird, McLachlin and other Masterpieces!

Maghan McPhee, soprano

Carson Becke, piano

Victor Herbiet, saxophone

Jean Desmarais, piano

SCHUMANN

• Liederkreis op. 39

McLACHLIN (Canadian composer)

• Pieces for solo piano

YOSHIMATSU

• Fuzzy Bird Sonata for saxophone and piano

Intermission

Carson Becke, piano

Yolanda Bruno, violin

FRANCK

• Sonata for piano and violin

Sunday July 25 - 2:00 pm
$35
Recital with soprano Yannick-Muriel Noah and pianist Jean Desmarais.


Sunday July 25 - 6:00 pm
$20
Grand Finale!

Yolanda Bruno, violin

Shasta Ellenbogen, alto

Tait Becke, violin

Carson Becke, piano

Denis Lawlor, baritone

Mitchell Gibbens-Schneider, violin

Thaddeus Morden, cello

Victor Herbiet, saxophone

Jean Desmarais, piano

HALVORSEN

• Chaconne for violin and alto

BEETHOVEN

• Romance in F Major

BARBER

• Dover Beach for baritone and string quartet

HERBIET (Canadian composer)

• Tango for violin, sax and piano

Intermission

Carson Becke, piano

Yolanda Bruno, violin

Mitchell Gibbens-Schneider, violin

Shasta Ellenbogen, alto

Carmen Bruno, cello

SCHUMANN • Quintet for piano and string quartet

(Violinist Donnie Deacon will join the Vienna Piano Trio. Photo by Fred Cattroll for NAC)

The second edition of Festival Pontiac Enchanté, which opened July 9 at Venturing Hills Farm in Luskville, continues with concerts on weekends through July 25.

The festival is programmed by Ottawa pianist Jean Desmarais, and concerts are presented in a 120-seat former hayloft. Farm owners Peter Becke and Deborah Bradley converted it into a music studio for use by their music-student sons, pianist Carson Becke, 21, and violinist Tait Becke, 18.

The farm is about a 40-minute drive from downtown Ottawa.

This weekend's concerts include a performance by the superb Vienna Piano Trio, which recently performed at Julian Armour's new Music and Beyond classical music festival. If you heard the trio there, you know what superb musicians these are. On July 17, they'll be joined at Venturing Hills by Donnie Deacon, principal second violinist of the National Arts Centre Orchestra. On July 18. Deacon and pianist Becke will join forces for music by Strauss, Gershwin and others.

Tickets are $20, except for a July 25 recital by Ottawa soprano Yannick-Muriel Noah, which is $35.

For full programming, go to www.venturinghills.ca.

This weekend's concerts:

July 16, 7:30 p.m.: Pianist Carson Becke presents a solo recital, featuring music by Haydn, Beethoven, Chopin, and Prokofiev. Also a composer, Becke is a student at the Royal Academy of Music. He was winner of the Sergei Rachmaninov piano competition in 2006 and the BBC young composer of the year competition in 2007.

July 17, 2 p.m.: Baritone Denis Lawlor, accompanied by pianist Desmarais, performs Schumann's Dichterliebe. Cellist Thaddeus Morden and Desmarais perform Beethoven's Sonata in A major for piano and cello, no.3 op. 69 and Piazzolla's Grand Tango for cello and piano.

July 17, 7:30 p.m.: The Vienna Piano Trio performs music by Haydn and Schubert and, with violinist Donnie Deacon, the Mahler Piano Quartet.

July 18, 2 p.m.: Pianist Carson Becke and NACO principal second violinist Donnie Deacon perform Strauss's Sonata for violin and piano and music by Gershwin and Godowsky.

(Steeve Michaud and Julie Nesrallah in rehearsal at the Velvet Room. Ottawa Citizen photo by John Major)

She's sung in several productions of Bizet's Carmen, but the performance that Ottawa mezzo-soprano Julie Nesrallah will be singing in her hometown starting July 16 will be a first for the singer: this Carmen will be flaunting her wares in a Byward Market pub, where audience members can have a meal and a drinks as they watch the dark-haired temptress cause all those problems for the men in her life.

In a project they're calling "Carmen on Tap," Nesrallah and co-stars will perform the opera at the Velvet Room, the intimate 100-seat venue on the second floor of Fat Tuesday's on York Street. Accompanied by pianist and music director Valerie Dueck, the nine singers will present the full opera, though without the large ensemble pieces because of the reduced cast.

Tickets, at $60 plus tax and tip, include the opera and a three-course meal. Tickets sold so well for the originally scheduled performances July 16 and 18, organizers added two extra performances, July 19 and 21. When I checked recently,  only the July 21 performance still had seats available.

Nesrallah, host of CBC Radio Two's  classical music program Tempo, says she and pianist Dueck hatched the idea as a different way of presenting the art form for opera newcomers and veterans alike. 

"We loved the idea of people being close to us, to be able to eat and drink in a casual setting and to wear jeans. We want the audience to be part of the drama." She says Carmen is a particularly fitting opera for a pub.

"The story and the characters are so gritty, so real, so seductive that it is irresistible. Not to mention, the whole of the second act happens in a pub."

Nesrallah says she's grateful to several sponsors who have supported the project. She says the intimate Velvet Room, with its chandeliers and plush booths, "is a dream fit because they are already set up with a dinner-theatre format and the space looks amazing. It's lush and cozy and sexy, and every seat in the house is a good seat."

The Canadian and Ottawa singers in the cast include tenor Steeve Michaud as Don José, bass-baritone Sean Watson as Escamillo, soprano Maghan McPhee as Micaela, mezzo-sopranos Joanna Dempster (Frasquita) and Whitney O'Hearn (Mercedes), baritone Mark Wilkinson (Zuniga) and tenor Corey Arnold as Remendado. The production is staged by Brent Krysa, who has worked regularly at the Candian Opera Company and other companies across Canada and abroad.

Tickets remain for July 21 at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:15. The Velvet Room, 62 1/2 York St. Reservations: 613-295-5053.

After a horrendous heat wave that hurt attendance  at the new Music and Beyond classical music festival in its first week, more bearable weather finally arrived, and  larger crowds have been turning up at many of the concerts I've checked out in the last few days. The festival wraps  up July 14 with several concerts.

On July 12, there was an enthusiastic crowd at Dominion-Chalmers Church for a concert by the Canadian Brass, in music ranging from Monteverdi to the Beatles. I heard only the first half, but it was good to hear that the quintet is still in ace form, playing with a warmth, style and virtuosity, and,  from the looks of things, still having a lot of fun. Tuba player Chuck Daellenbach, the only remaining member of the group that was founded 40 years ago, joked with the crowd between pieces. He also performed with impressive flair, in a solo in selections from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess that brought down the house. The other young players, all clearly chosen carefully for the group, also shone in their moments in the spotlight, including trombonist Keith Dyrda, the group's newest member. It was nice to see parents near me who had brought young children to hear the show and learn that music doesn't have to be intimidating, It can also be a lot of sheer fun in the hands of players like these.

On July 13, I dropped by two evening concerts and saw  standing ovations at each one. Because of timing and distances between churches, I unfortunately missed the performance of music by Chopin and Mozart with pianist Janina Fialkowska and the Chamber Players of Canada at Southminster Church in the south Ottawa neighbourhood.

At Dominion-Chalmers, Ottawa countertenor Daniel Taylor was joined by some other superb singers, including sopranos Nancy Argenta and Donna Brown, tenor Andrew Kennedy and baritone Philip Cutlip, along with musicians from Taylor's Theatre of Early Music orchestra, for a baroque celebration that included arias by Handel and instrumental selections.

Taylor and his colleagues sang beautifully. Just before intermission, the audience was on its feet and cheering the performance of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major with recorder soloists Sophie Larivière and Matthias Maute in superb form. Host Ed Broadbent, a longtime music lover, introduced the performance and spoke of his longtime admiration for the programming of festival director Julian Armour.

At intermission, I zipped over to St. Andrew's Church, where I caught the final piece on the program by Les Violons du Roy, Suk's Serenade for Strings. The main floor of the church was nearly full,  and the orchestra was playing beautifully under the direction of conductor Erick Paetkau. The audience roared for the orchestra.

The orchestra will perform Vivaldi's Four Seasons July 14 at 2 p.m., also at St . Andrew's, with readings of season-related poetry.

It's one of several promising concerts on the festival's final day, including a gala  closing concert that sounds like a winner.  Here's the lineup:

At 10 a..m., accordion star Joseph Petric performs at Tabaret Hall.

Noon: Vienna Piano Trio. Music of Haydn and Ravel. St. Andrew's Church.

Noon: Enoch Arden (in French). Church of St. John the Evangelist. Steeve Michaud, narrator. Mauro Bertoli, piano. Richard Strauss's Enoch Arden, for narrator and piano.

2 p.m.: Les Violons du Roy. Vivaldi's Four Seasons, with readings of season-related poetry. St. Andrew's Church.

8 p.m. Gala closing concert. Musicians include Les Violons du Roy, Cleveland Orchestra concertmaster William Preucil, Vienna Piano Trio, pianists Janina Fialkowska and Peter Tiefenbach, tenor Andrew Kennedy and the Chamber Players of Canada. The concert will include Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances, Schumann's Fantasiestuücke, Stravinsky's Piano-Rag Music, Ivor Novello's And Her Mother Came Too, the tenor-baritone duet Au fond du temple saint from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers, and Schumann's Quintet for Piano and Strings, op. 44.  The closing concert requires passholders to purchase an additional $20 ticket. Single tickets are $40.

For details, www.musicandbeyond.ca

(Counter-tenor Daniel Taylor. Photo by Marco Borggreve)

'That was celestial," said former federal cabinet minister Monique Begin July 11 at Knox Church, where she  was among the music lovers who were standing and cheering the performance by the superb choir of the Theatre of Early Music  at Julian Armour's Music and Beyond classical music festival.
The group was founded and is directed by Ottawa counter-tenor Daniel Taylor, who conducted the singers in music from the 16th and 17th centuries. The Theatre of Early Music also includes an orchestra, but this concert featured the choir on its own.
"I didn't know Daniel Taylor before this but I will now try always to listen to him," Ms Begin told me as we were leaving the church.
The good news is that Taylor will be back for a second performance at the festival July 13, in a "Baroque Celebration" concert that should not be missed.

Taylor will conduct the orchestra of the Theatre of Early Music and will also perform as soloist, joined by a roster of other superb singers, including Canadian soprano Nancy Argenta and Ottawa soprano Donna Brown.
At the July 11 concert, the choir performed with spine-tingling beauty of tone and blend, in music by Tallis. William Byrd, Palestrina and others. The choir capped the concert with a sublime performance of Allegri's Miserere, which also featured a lyrical dance performance by Coleman, Lemieux et Compagnie. Taylor has assembled a brilliant chamber choir, and the singers never sounded hard or shrill, even in some killer high notes.

The audience roared for the concert, which will be remembered as one of the highlights of Armour's new festival.
I was there only for the second half, running over to Knox after hearing baritone Peter McGillivray in excellent form at Dominion-Chalmers Church, singing  songs by Vaughan Williams, Gerald Finzi and others. McGilliivray gave delightful performances, with an actorly sense of how to add extra zest to the pieces. It was part of an evening also featuring readings by mystery writer Peter Robinson. A large crowd turned out at Dominion-Chalmers Church for that event.
If you're a fan of vocal music, you'll be interested in the performance by baritone Alexander Dobson 2 p.m. July 12 at Dominion-Chalmers. Dobson will perform Vaughan Williams' Songs of Travel and selections by Ivor Novello and Noel Coward.
The July 13 concert with Daniel Taylor  will feature music by Handel and Bach at Dominion-Chalmers Church.
While the choir of the Theatre of Early Music was featured at the July 11 concert, the July 13 concert will feature the orchestra of the ensemble, again conducted by Taylor.
In addition to Taylor, Argenta and Brown, vocal soloists will be tenor Andrew Kennedy and  baritone Philip Cutlip, both enjoying busy international careers.
The program will include solos and duets from Rinaldo, Semele, Tamerlano, Saul, Jephtha and Handel's Messiah (Cutlip will be featured in The Trumpet Shall Sound).
It will also feature a performance of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto no. 4 in G major, with recorder soloists Sophie Lariviere and Matthias Maute.
"And there might be a little surprise at the end," Taylor says with a smile.
Taylor says things are going well for the Theatre of Early Music, the group he created several years ago. He has now toured internationally with the orchestra and the choir, and he and the group have a second CD scheduled for release in November on the Sony label.
"I'm really excited about the group. It's going really well, we have more and more projects and I really love the conducting work," Taylor says.
I'd put my money on the July 13 concert as another likely highlight of the festival, something that no baroque music buff will want to miss. This is a "Festival Plus" concert, requiring passholders to purchase an additional $20 ticket to help the festival cover the expenses involved in bringing in this kind of ambitious program.

Taylor has attended several concerts, including the July 6 recital by Kathleen Battle. Taylor says he  was greatly impressed by Battle's voice and singing and says the soprano "gave a masterclass in how to create moments that hold an audience. I learned from watching her."
Taylor praises Armour's lineup as "incredibly impressive, and I couldn't be prouder of Julian."
With cooler temperatures, crowds at concerts I attended over the weekend were healthier than they were in the crushing heat that greeted the festival's first week.
And for anyone who doesn't know, Dominion-Chalmers Church is air conditioned.
There were large crowds for the Djokic family in concert  there July 9 and for pianist Janina Fialkowska and the Chamber Players of Canada July 11. (I heard only the excellent performance of Mozart's Concerto for Piano and Strings in E-flat major. There was also a large audience for the Montreal violinist Jonathan Crow, who gave a brilliant recital of works for solo violin Saturday at 5 p.m. at First Baptist Church (also air conditioned). Crow had the audience on its feet, cheering, for a fascinating recital of works by Ysaÿe, Telemann, Prokofiev and others. And there was a similar big turnout for the performance by the wonderful Hannaford Street Silver Band, a professional Toronto-based group that performs in the British brass band tradition. Conductor Curtis Metcalf led the group in some first-rate performances, and chatted about the pieces and his soloists in a friendly, informative way. The audience loved it. The first half included a warm, lyrical performance by cornet soloist Robert Venables of William Himes' Caprice for Cornet.
At the Jonathan Crow recital, among the listeners standing and cheering was Rebecca Ehren, an 18-year-old Ottawa pianist who is heading to prestigious Indiana University in the fall to study music there.
Ehren starting attending the Chamber Music Festival, when Armour was running that event, at about age nine, going to concerts with her parents. She became a festival devotee, going to several concerts daily. A few years later she started as a volunteer. She's also volunteering at Music and Beyond.
She says Armour's programming has played a huge part in her musical development, and says she was thrilled to see him back with a new festival. The price for a student pass for 10 days of music? $40.
She said she has loved the festival concerts she's attended.
"I was very impressed by the programming, and I love the fact that it's so accessible. For $40, I can go to the whole festival. I love the fact that once you get a pass you can go to anything. It's really exposed me to a lot of different styles of music and instrumentation."
Highlights so far, she said Saturday, included the concerts with pianist Menahem Pressler, who teaches at Indiana.
"They were incredible. I was so impressed with his playing," Ehren says.
The festival continues through July 14, with an excellent lineup of concerts still to come. The festival is selling a 3-day pass, which will get you into as many concerts as you can attend, apart from a few, like Taylor's concert, that require an additional $20 ticket. The three-day passes are $50 and $30, and are an incredible bargain.
For information and details, visit www.musicandbeyond.ca.

Here's a quick rundown on what's coming up in the festival's final three days. More details on pieces are on the festival's website.

MONDAY JULY 12

10 a.m. Two violins: Dominion-Chalmers Church. Philippe Djokic - violin and viola; Marc Djokic - violin; Lynn Stodola - piano. Music of Mozart, Martinu, Prokofiev, Moszkowski.

Noon: Enoch Arden (in English). St. Andrew's Church. Kevin Reeves; narrator. Mauro Bertoli; piano. Richard Strauss's Enoch Arden, for narrator and piano based on Tennyson's epic poem. (French version to be performed July 14).

Noon: Telemann Fantasias. Church of St. John the Evangelist. Flutist Rachel Brown.

2 p.m. Baritone Alexander Dobson; pianist Peter Tiefenbach.  Dominion-Chalmers Church. Music by Vaughan-Williams, Ivor Novello, Noel Coward.

5 p.m. The Band of the Ceremonial Guard. Tabaret Hall.

8 p.m. Vienna Piano Trio I. St. Andrew's Church. Music of Haydn, Schumann, Schoenberg.       

8 p.m. Canadian Brass. (Festival-plus: Requires an extra $20 Festival-plus ticket). Dominion-Chalmers  Church. Music of Monteverdi, Bach, Gershwin, the Beatles, others.

8 p.m. Music and Dance. London Handel Players with Coleman, Lemieux & Compagnie. Knox Presbyterian Church. Music by Bach, Biber, Handel, others.

11 p.m.  Trio Tango Boréal. Church of St. John the Evangelist. Music of Piazzolla, Gardel, Denis Plante and others

TUESDAY JULY 13     

10 a.m. Albeniz and García Lorca. Tabaret Hall. Pianist Olivier Chauzu Fottorino. Albéniz's Iberia. Poems by Federico García Lorca.

Noon: Soprano Nancy Argenta and London Handel Players. Knox Presbyterian Church.

Noon: Chamber Music with violinist William Preucil, concertmaster of Cleveland Orchestra. Music by Haydn, others. Dominion-Chalmers United Church.

2 p.m. Vienna Piano Trio II. St. Andrew's Church. Music of Haydn, Zemlinsky,  Schumann.

5 p.m. Ottawa Wind Ensemble. Tabaret Hall. Music of Gustav Holst, Malcolm Arnold, Oscar Peterson and others.

8 p.m. Baroque Celebration. (Festival-plus: Passholders require an extra $20 ticket). . Theatre of Early Music with sopranos Nancy Argenta, Donna Brown, countertenor Daniel Taylor, others. Handel arias and duets, Bach's Brandenburg Concerto no. 5. Dominion-Chalmers Church.

8 p.m Janina Fialkowska and Chamber Players of Canada II. Southminster United Church. Music of Mozart, Chopin.

8 p.m. Les Violons du Roy I. St. Andrew's Church. Eric Paetkau - conductor. Music by Rossini, Oesterle, Schubert, Suk.

11 p.m.  Trio Tango Boréal. Church of St. John the Evangelist. Music of Piazzolla, Gardel, Denis Plante and others.

WEDNESDAY JULY 14

10 a.m.  Accordionist Joseph Petric in recital. Tabaret Hall.

Noon: Vienna Piano Trio III. St. Andrew's Church. Music of Haydn, Ravel. Noon: Enoch Arden (in French). Church of St. John the Evangelist. Steeve Michaud - narrator; Mauro Bertoli - piano. Richard Strauss's Enoch Arden, for narrator and piano based on Tennyson's epic poem. (Performed in English July 12.)

2 p.m. Les Violons du Roy II: Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. St. Andrew's Church. With poetry read by Eric Friesen.          

8 p.m.  Gala Closing Concert. (Festival-plus: Requires an extra $20 ticket). Dominion-Chalmers Church. Music includes pieces by Schumann, Bartok. Les Violons du Roy; violinist William Preucil; Vienna Piano Trio; Pianist Janina Fialkowska; Chamber Players of Canada; Tenor Andrew Kennedy.

(Trombonist Keith Dyrda is the newest member of Canadian Brass. Photo by Daniel D'Ottavio)

Performance: The Canadian Brass 

When and where: Monday, July 12, 8 p.m., Dominion-Chalmers Church. (The church is air conditioned).

Tickets: Music and Beyond passholders require an additional $20 ticket for this concert. For those without passes, single tickets are $40. 

Information: www.musicandbeyond.ca

School band teachers everywhere, here's a pep talk to inspire your students:

"Kids, choose a band instrument at random and in 10 years, who knows? Maybe you'll be in the Canadian Brass."

That's the astonishing story of  Keith Dyrda, who as an elementary school student growing up near Winnipeg just 10 years ago decided it might be fun to try his hand at the trombone in the school band.

On July 12 at Dominion-Chalmers Church, Dyrda will be performing onstage as the newest member of the Brass, a group he has admired since he was a kid, first learning how to slide.

Founded in 1970, the group has toured the world, known for virtuoso performances of music ranging from baroque to the Beatles and a sense of fun in performance that can include choreography and costumes. The Ottawa concert, presented as part of the Music and Beyond festival,  will include music of Monteverdi, Bach, Frescobaldi and Gershwin and an abridged version of Bizet's Carmen. 

Dyrda is only 21 and has just completed his third year of music studies at McGill University, but he was invited to Toronto early this year to audition for the group, thanks to some high-profile competitions he has won and word of mouth among brass players.

Dyrda, who played a Mahler solo and other pieces in his audition, wowed the other players. He officially joined the group in April, and is now the Brass's youngest player, though not the youngest ever to join. Trumpeter Brandon Ridenour, now 25, joined the group as a Juilliard student at age 20.

Dyrda  replaces trombonist Eugene Watts, who co-founded the group in 1970. Watts decided it was time to retire from the busy touring and concert schedule, but will continue to organize tours and repertoire. He was involved in the auditions and praises Dyrda as "one of the finest trombonists I have ever heard. I think that he will be an ideal soulmate and partner for the other members of the group."

In the three months since joining the group, Dyrda has already performed with the Brass on concert tours of China and Europe. He describes his new job as "a dream come true, but it still feels a bit unreal. It was something I used to dream about but never thought would happen so soon. I've admired these guys for so long as fantastic musicians. It's a real honour."

Though he now has a steady job, Dyrda plans to return to McGill in the fall and complete his degree, working around the group's tour schedule.

"Some of my friends wondered why I'm coming back when I've got a job, but I think it's important to finish it," Dyrda said in a telephone interview.

That kind of level-headedness also helped win him the job, according to tuba player Chuck Daellenbach, now the  group's only remaining original player.

Daellenbach says Dyrda has the kind of rare, natural, hard-to-explain talent that some star hockey players have at a young age.

"I compare him to Gretzky. It has nothing to do with age, and there's no way to explain this kind of talent. He makes a beautiful sound with a lot of heart and soul and flair, blended with confidence and security in performance. When Keith played for us, Gene Watts heard half a dozen notes and said 'this is absolutely the sound that we need to go forward,'" says Daellenbach.

Daellenbach says the musicians also look for more than just superb playing. They spend a lot of time chatting with potential recruits to see if their personalities click.

"We are a small group. We feel like a family, and we have a strenuous program musically and travel-wise. We share an approach to life that makes that possible, and we need to be on the same page. As well as being a fine musician, Keith is just a very grounded individual."

Dyrda  soared quickly on an instrument that he chose on a whim for his school band in Oakbank, Manitoba.

He says he didn't have a passion for trombone or even brass instruments but chose it because his brother played sax and Dyrda wanted to try something different.

"The trombone looked kind of cool and sounded cool, so I gave it a shot and fell in love with it. I liked the warm sound and the dark colour and I just really took to it," says Dyrda. He says it helped that he had played violin from age five before trying the second instrument.

"I could translate a lot of the musicality I had learned on violin to the trombone. I already knew what a musical phrase was. The trombone felt like an extension of the violin in  a way. There are similiarites in making a musical line. We had strong band programs at school, and that helped. I also think I had some natural ability. It just seemed to come pretty easily."

Dyrda won prizes and competitions in school,  and though he loved the instrument, he says he didn't know for sure that he would pursue it as a career until he was in Grade 11. He visited his older brother, a violin student at McGill, and while there, Dyrda heard the brass section of the university orchestra in a sectional rehearsal of Liszt's Les préludes.

"I said 'wow. This is the coolest sound, the most glorious thing I have ever heard. I have to do this.' I went back to my band director and said 'I know what I want to do,'" he recalls.

Dyrda spent two summers in the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and since beginning studies  at McGill won the school's 2007 concerto competition and the Montreal Symphony Standard Life Competition in 2008. That prize included a performance of a Tomasi concerto with the orchestra in 2009.

Dyrda says many music lovers think of the trombone as the loud instrument to be found at the back of the orchestra. He loves the chance to solo and show audiences the range of tone, dynamics and styles he can achieve on the instrument. Of the brass instruments, he says, the trombone "is closest to the human voice. It's almost like being a tenor, which is why a lot of music for tenor translates well for trombone. It's underrated as a solo instrument. The limited repertoire that we have is wonderful, and it's expanding."

One of the things he likes about Canadian Brass performances, he says, is that although the musicians perform as a group, the players all get moments in the spotlight and a chance to let their instruments sing. In the concert in Ottawa, Dyrda will solo in a performance of the Beatles' tune Blackbird .

"It's a fantastic arrangement, and I love playing it. We all get our chance to shine, which is great for the audience to hear the range of these instruments and what they can do."

When he joined the group,  Dyrda says challenges included memorizing a lot of music and learning the group choreography that's occasionally part of a Canadian Brass show. But he says he found it easy from first rehearsals to blend musically with the other players.

"We just clicked, and it's been so musically rewarding to play with musicians of this calibre. It's really been beyond what I hoped."

Tuba player Daellenbach says that after 40 years in the Brass, he still enjoys performing in the group and isn't tiring of the busy schedule. But he says the musicianship of young players like Dyrda and others who have joined the group in recent years gives him the confidence that when he decides to step down, the Canadian Brass will have a solid future.

"One thing we were keen from the very first was establishing something that would have a life beyond us, and with all these superstars surrounding me now, I know we're going to be in good hands."

To give you an idea of what you have to look forward to in the July 12 concert, I've  posted video below of Dyrda's performance of the David Concertino with the McGill Symphony, part of the the prize of the McGill concerto competition. Brass fans will also be interested in the performance July 10 by the Hannaford Street Silver Band, a 28-piece Toronto-based professional group in the British brass band tradition. The group performs at 8 p.m., also at Dominion-Chalmers. Curtis Metcalf will conduct the band in music by William Gordon, Morley Calvert, Leroy Anderson, Ottawa composer Gabriel Major-Marothy and others. Tickets to that concert are $20 general, $10 students.

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It was already one of the best classical music deals of the year, but Julian Armour's new Music and Beyond classical music festival has announced it is now offering a new five-day pass at $60 general and $40 for students to encourage attendance for  the rest of the festival by those who  stayed home because of the heat wave that hit the festival's first week. Three-day passes, at $50 and $30, also remain.

With stifling humidex readings in the low 40s that arrived just as the new festival started on July 5, attendance suffered in the first week. Despite a solid and impressive lineup featuring star performers and ensembles, some of the venues I checked out in the first five days were less than half full, though it's a testament to Armour's lineup that it was still attracting the fans that was. A 5 p.m. concert by star cellist Matt Haimovitz July 6 still drew about 150 people to St. Andrew's Church in the scorching heat. There have also been some good houses, including a capacity crowd at the air-conditioned National Gallery July 8 for a music inspired by paintings,  a big crowd for an afternoon concert July 8 by cellist Denise Djokic of excerpts from the Bach Cello Suites, with readings of poetry inspired by the pieces. A mid-afternoon concert by star pianist Menahem Pressler July 6 at air-conditioned Dominion-Chalmers Church also attracted a large crowd.

The festival continues through July 14 with dozens of performances still to come. The new five-day passes will  grant admission to all concerts except a few "festival plus" events that require an additional $20 ticket. Full festival passes had been selling for $95 general, $50 for students.

"The five-day pass is to make sure people get good value and aren't penalized for something beyond everyone's control," Armour said.

Although Dominion-Chalmers Church, one of the festival's main venues, is air-conditioned, other venues are not, and Armour said some people simply weren't up to heading out to attend a concert during the heat wave, even if the church is cool.

Recent forecasts have suggested more bearable humidity levels in coming days.

"The heat has definitely kept people home and we've lost sales because of it," Armour told me  in  a brief chat outside of Knox Church, where the superb British vocal quartet the Hilliard Ensemble was performing to a small but enthusiastic crowd July 7. Inside, Knox Church was actually more bearable than I had thought it would be.

"We're hoping people will come out, and if they only want to go somewhere that's air conditioned, there is a lot to choose from at Dominion-Chalmers. We've still got a strong lineup of stuff to come, and we hope people will check it out," Armour said.

Among the superb performers still to come are Ottawa counter-tenor Daniel Taylor and his Theatre of Early Music, Les Violons du Roy, the Vienna Piano Trio, the Canadian Brass and pianist Janina Fialkowska.

Volunteer Katharine Robinson, who has been working as house manager at many concerts, told me patrons have been praising the programming and performances. She predicted larger crowds if temperatures cool.

"Everyone who's been coming has been very enthusiastic and happy."

At Dominion-Chalmers Church on a recent morning,  patron Agnes Hetherington echoed those comments. She said she had enjoyed the festival and particularly enjoyed the performance by the Hilliard Ensemble at Knox Church the night before.

"It's a wonderful festival. Julian has come up with such winning programming."

Considering that a single ticket to an orchestra concert can cost $50 or more, the new five-day pass is a steal to hear performances by artists of this calibre.

To give you an idea of what's coming, I've attached the schedule below for the remaining festival performances. For more details on programming, visit www.musicandbeyond.ca

Saturday July 10

11 a.m. The Leong Brothers: Church of St. John the Evangelist. Cellist Stanley Leong; violinist Kerson Leong. Pianist Tu Mach. Music of Bach, Vitali, Bull, Glière and Handel/Halvorsen. Featuring Ottawa's School of Dance Dancing in the Streets project before concert.

Noon: Trio Hochelaga II. Dominion-Chalmers Church. Music by Beethoven, Mendelssohn.

2 p.m. Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. St. Stephen's Church, Chelsea. Theatre of Early Music with Young Artists Academy from the Theatre of Early Music.

2 p.m. Music in the Countryside. Saunders Farm, Munster. Rural-themed music by Grieg, Beethoven, Copland, Smetana. Flutist Joanna G'froerer, violinist Marcelle Mallette, cellist Julian Armour, pianist Andrew Tunis. Complementary tea, scones, baked goods, lemonade after concert.

5 p.m. Violinist Jonathan Crow in recital. First Baptist Church. Music by Telemann, Prokofiev, Eckhardt-Grammatté, Serge Arcuri, Ben-Haim, Ysaye.

8 p.m. Hannaford Street Silver Band. Curtis Metcalf, conductor. Dominion-Chalmers Church. Music of Bach, Howard Cable, Morley Calvert, others.

8 p.m. Violinist Philippe Djokic, pianist Lynn Stodola. Church of St. John the Evangelist. Music by Debussy, Beethoven, Elgar.

8 p.m. The Moscow String Quartet and pianist Tigran Alikhanov. St. Andrew's Church. Music of Mozart, Beethoven, Taneyev.

11 p.m. Lute Songs. Church of St. John the Evangelist. Countertenor Daniel Taylor wth Susie Napper - viola da gamba; Melisande Corriveau _  viola da gamba; David Jacques, lute.

SUNDAY JULY 11

Noon: Free concert. The Central Band of the Canadian Forces. Tabaret Hall.

2 p.m. Janina Fialkowska and the Chamber Players of Canada I. Dominion-Chalmers Church. Music of Mozart, Chopin. With Ottawa's The School of Dance Dancing in the Street project before concert.

5 p.m. The Band of the Ceremonial Guard. Tabaret Hall.

7 p.m. Music and Dining at Juniper Kitchen and Wine Bar. (Festival-plus event. Tickets are $160). A six-course meal with performances by Moscow String Quartet between courses. Reservations: 613-728-0220.         

8 p.m. Music from the Sistine Chapel. Knox Presbyterian Church. (Festival-plus concert. Requires an extra $20 ticket). Choir of the Theatre of Early Music with dancers from Coleman, Lemieux et Compagnie. Daniel Taylor, conductor. Compositions written for the Sistine Chapel including the 'forbidden' Miserere of Allegri.

8 p.m. Music and Mystery. Dominion-Chalmers Church. Mystery writer and music lover Peter Robinson, creator of the Inspector Banks series, reads selections from his novels inspired by music. Music by Bax, Schubert, Vaughan Williams, others. Musicians include baritone Peter McGillivray, pianist Julien Leblanc, cellist Denise Djokic, violinist Susanne Hou.

8 p.m. Film and Music: The Battleship Potemkin. Mayfair Theatre. Pianist Thomas Annand accompanies screening of classic 1925 silent film. (Festival-plus: Tickets: $15 regular seating; $12 students and seniors; $10 for Music and Beyond pass holders and Mayfair Theatre members.)

MONDAY JULY 12

10 a.m. Two violins: Dominion-Chalmers Church. Philippe Djokic - violin and viola; Marc Djokic - violin; Lynn Stodola - piano. Music of Mozart, Martinu, Prokofiev, Moszkowski.

Noon: Enoch Arden (in English). St. Andrew's Church. Kevin Reeves; narrator. Mauro Bertoli; piano. Richard Strauss's Enoch Arden, for narrator and piano based on Tennyson's epic poem. (French version to be performed July 14).

Noon: Telemann Fantasias. Church of St. John the Evangelist. Flutist Rachel Brown.

2 p.m. Baritone Alexander Dobson; pianist Peter Tiefenbach.  Dominion-Chalmers Church. Music by Vaughan-Williams, Ivor Novello.

5 p.m. Free event: The Band of the Ceremonial Guard. Tabaret Hall. 8 p.m. Vienna Piano Trio I. St. Andrew's Church. Music of Haydn, Schumann, Schoenberg.       

8 p.m. Canadian Brass. (Festival-plus: Requires an extra $20 Festival-plus ticket). Dominion-Chalmers  Church. Music of Monteverdi, Bach, Gershwin, the Beatles, others.

8 p.m. Music and Dance. London Handel Players with Coleman, Lemieux & Compagnie. Knox Presbyterian Church. Music by Bach, Biber, Handel, others.

11 p.m.  Trio Tango Boréal. Church of St. John the Evangelist. Music of Piazzolla, Gardel, Denis Plante and others

TUESDAY JULY 13     

10 a.m. Albeniz and García Lorca. Tabaret Hall. Pianist Olivier Chauzu Fottorino. Albéniz's Iberia. Poems by Federico García Lorca.

Noon: Soprano Nancy Argenta and London Handel Players. Knox Presbyterian Church.

Noon: Chamber Music with violinist William Preucil, concertmaster of Cleveland Orchestra. Music by Haydn, others. Dominion-Chalmers United Church.

2 p.m. Vienna Piano Trio II. St. Andrew's Church. Music of Haydn, Zemlinsky,  Schumann.

5 p.m. Ottawa Wind Ensemble. Tabaret Hall. Music of Gustav Holst, Malcolm Arnold, Oscar Peterson and others.

8 p.m. Baroque Celebration. (Festival-plus: Requires an extra $20 ticket). Dominion-Chalmers Church. Theatre of Early Music with sopranos Nancy Argenta, Donna Brown, countertenor Daniel Taylor, others. Handel arias and duets, Bach's Brandenburg Concerto no. 5.

8 p.m Janina Fialkowska and Chamber Players of Canada II. Southminster United Church. Music of Mozart, Chopin.

8 p.m. Les Violons du Roy I. St. Andrew's Church. Eric Paetkau - conductor. Music by Rossini, Oesterle, Schubert, Suk.

WEDNESDAY JULY 14

10 a.m.  Accordionist Joseph Petric in recital. Tabaret Hall.

Noon: Vienna Piano Trio III. St. Andrew's Church. Music of Haydn, Ravel. Noon: Enoch Arden (in French). Church of St. John the Evangelist. Steeve Michaud - narrator; Mauro Bertoli - piano. Richard Strauss's Enoch Arden, for narrator and piano based on Tennyson's epic poem. (Performed in English July 12.)

2 p.m. Les Violons du Roy II: Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. St. Andrew's Church. With poetry read by Eric Friesen.          

8 p.m.  Gala Closing Concert. (Festival-plus: Requires an extra $20 ticket). Dominion-Chalmers Church. Music includes pieces by Schumann, Bartok. Les Violons du Roy; violinist William Preucil; Vienna Piano Trio; Pianist Janina Fialkowska; Chamber Players of Canada; Tenor Andrew Kennedy.

(Pianist Carson Becke, front, with Jean Desmarais in the music studio at Venturing Hills Farm, in a photo taken before the 2009 festival. Ottawa Citizen photo by Pat McGrath).

It was a hit with music lovers last year, so classical music back is coming back to the hayloft.

Festival Pontiac Enchanté, the event that Ottawa pianist Jean Desmarais first presented last year in a converted 120-seat hayloft on Venturing Hills Farm in Luskville, will open this year July 9 with a sold-out fundraising dinner and will offer performances on weekends through July 25.

The 11 concerts in the air-conditioned venue will include performances by Ottawa soprano Yannick-Muriel Noah, violinist Donnie Deacon, pianists Frédéric Lacroix and Carson Becke, violinist Tait Becke, double bassist Hilda Cowie, baritone Denis Lawlor, soprano Maghan McPhee, mezzo-soprano Whitney O'Hearn, tenor Dillon Parmer and others.

The farm, about a 40-minute drive from downtown Ottawa, is owned by Peter Becke and Deborah Bradley, who converted their hayloft into a wood-lined, acoustically engineered music room for use by their music-student sons -- violinist Tait and pianist Carson. Carson studies in Britain, has won some major piano competitions and is also an award-winning composer.

Desmarais suggested presenting a festival last year that would mix veteran professionals with young Ottawa players who were advanced students or in the early years of their careers. Last year's six concerts attracted full houses.

"People were excited about sharing beautiful music in an intimate setting, in the middle of a fabulous landscape," Desmarais says.

This year's festival includes an opera-themed concert and a concert marking the 200th anniversaries of Chopin and Schumann, a solo piano recital by Carson Becke and a concert of music inspired by nature. The event will include free screenings of music and opera videos.

Yannick-Muriel Noah, who wowed Toronto critics in her debut in Madama Butterfly for the Canadian Opera Company last fall, will perform a recital July 25 that will be recorded by CBC Television.

Tickets to performances are $20, except for Noah's recital, which are $35. Here's a rundown of this weekend's performances.

For the complete lineup, and to reserve tickets, visit www.venturinghills.ca or call 819-455-2574.

Saturday, July 10, 7:30 p.m.:

Music of Chopin, Schumann, Debussy, Lutoslawski, Ravel and Carson Becke, with musicians including Desmarais and pianist Frédéric Lacroix, clarinetist Patrick Graham, baritone Denis Lawlor, violinist Yolanda Bruno and cellist Thaddeus Morden.

Sunday July 11, 2 p.m.: Nature and Music, including Schubert's "Trout" Quintet and pieces by Schumann, Saint-Saëns, Takemitsu and others. Performers include cellist Thaddeus Morden, bassist Hilda Cowie, tenor Corey Arnold, violist Shasta Ellenbogen.

Sunday July 11, 7:30 p.m:

A Night at the Opera, with soprano Maghan McPhee, mezzo-soprano Whitney O'Hearn, tenor Dillon Parmer, baritone Denis Lawlor. Music from Don Giovanni, Gianni Schicchi, La Bohème, Carmen, La Traviata, The Barber of Seville and others.

When was the last time you heard someone yell out "We love you!" at a classical music recital?

That was a cheer that greeted soprano Kathleen Battle as she returned for a second encore at the National Arts Centre July 6 amid whoops, whistles and cries of 'Brava", and it was an example of the spell that this star singer can still create at age 61. The performance was  presented by Ottawa cellist Julian Armour's new Music and Beyond classical music festival.

Battle still knows how to work the kind of magic in recital for which she has long been known. The shout of affection from one enthusiastic listener came following her first encore, a spellbinding and spectacularly sung unaccompanied version of Were You There? Battle's voice soared and she held the crowd in utter silence. A woman near me was wiping away tears.

It would be unfair to expect any singer to have the same sheen in her voice at 61 that she had at 31. Time and age produce changes. I attended Battle's Toronto recitals regularly in the 1980s and 1990s but had not heard her in ccncert for more than a decade, and I was wondering how the voice would be holding up. I was very pleasantly surprised.

Early in the recital, there was occasional huskiness in Battle's tone that  was not there when she was younger. But at its best that night, Battle's singing  still had an impressive amount of the beauty, purity and control that won her so many fans.
"A voice like that makes you believe in God," I heard one person near me commenting to a friend say as we were exiting.
Battle had an excellent accompanist in pianist Ted Taylor, who was in sensitive form. Battle was obviously happy as well, repeatedly acknowledging and applauding Taylor.  
One of Battle's finest recordings, dating from the 1980s, was a  disc of beautifully sung Schubert lieder  for DG.  In the Schubert set that opened her recital and included some of the pieces on that disc, she naturally did not have the flawlessly lustrous tone that she had 30 years ago. But Battle still has a sensitivity to feeling and mood, and what was impressive,  as she progressed and her voice warmed up, was how much beauty she could still create in a haunting piece like Schubert's Nacht und Träume.
Her voice opened up steadily as the night wore one, and she particularly shone in a set of Rachmaninov songs near  the end of the program, with warm, rounded tones and some beautiful singing.
Her set of spirituals was equally impressive, including Hale Smith's celestial arrangement of This Little Light of Mine, in which Battle sang with an affecting simplicity and directness and Taylor produced a delicately shimmering accompaniment.
Her encores, along with the Were You There, included a simple and lovingly  sung O mio babbino caro  from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi.

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Because of newspaper deadlines, I'm often not able to get to daytime festival concerts, but earlier in the day July 6 I was able to hear the start of cellist Matt Haimovitz's recital with pianist Jean Marchand at 5 p.m. at St. Andrew's Church.
Given the stifling  heat wave we've been experiencing, I was curious what kind of turnout a rush- hour concert would attract in these temperatures. About 150 dedicated music lovers turned out and warmly applauded the pair's performance of  the Poulenc sonata that opened the program. (I could only stay for the opening). At intimate St. Andrew's Church, a crowd that size still felt respectable. Haimovitz and Marchand were both in excellent form in the engrossing piece. I'd recommend his 11 p.m. recital at Church of St. John the Evangelist July 7. Haimovitz will be performing pieces marking the 300th anniversary of his cello, by composers ranging from Gabrielli to a new piece by Brian Cherney that was written for Haimovitz.

It's Armour's unfortunate luck that the first week of his new festival is coinciding with a record-breaking heat wave, with the kind of energy-draining steamy temperatures and humidex readings that tend to keep people going from their air-conditioned offices to their air conditioned houses and not feeling like doing much else. The idea of lining up for a concert  in muggy heat will tend to to keep away all but the already converted music diehards. There would undoubtedly have been more people to hear Haimovitz on a cooler day.
It's too bad, because Armour has put together a stellar lineup and the pass price is a bargain. A pass, at $95 general, $50 for students, gets you in to almost all of the more than 80 performances and events. This is the kind of festival that classical music needs, to build audiences and attract new listeners.

The good news, for anyone who doesn't know,  is that Dominion-Chalmers Church is air conditioned, and that's the church where several of the premium "festival plus" concerts, which require an additional ticket, will be held. But I was pleasantly surprised that St. Andrew's on July 6 was more bearable inside than I had expected.
For anyone considering a concert on July 7, I've included the full schedule below.

Among the highlights are the recital by the superb American pianist Peter Serkin at the National Arts Centre and the Ottawa debut of Britain's Hilliard Ensemble, the vocal quartet known for pristine performances of music of the medieval and Renaissance eras as well as  contemporary music.

At Knox Church on Elgin Street at Lisgar, the Hilliard Ensemble will perform music from the time of Caravaggio, in a concert tied to a coming National Gallery of Canada show. Curator David Franklin will host the performance. It's an example of the kinds of ties between music and other art forms that Armour has explored in some of his programming.
The group will also perform July 8 at St. Matthew's Church, in music spanning seven centuries. I've posted a video clip of the ensemble for anyone unfamiliar with the group.


WEDNESDAY,  JULY 7

Noon: Norman Lebrecht: Why Mahler?  Dominion-Chalmers Church. With soprano Donna Brown, violinist Martin Chalifour, cellist Julian Armour, others. North American launch of Lebrecht's book on Mahler's life and music, with perfomances of his music.

Noon:  Utrecht String Quartet II. St. Matthew's Church. Music by Schubert, Tchaikovsky, others. 2 p.m.:  Tapestry vocal ensemble. Knox Presbyterian Church. Music by Hildegard von Bingen and premiere of the opera, The Tale of the White Rooster by Sheila Silver.

2 p.m.:  Music of Carl Reinecke. Church of St. John the Evangelist. Pianist Stéphane Lemelin, flutist Camille Churchfield, oboist Charles Hamann, others.

5 p.m.: Quatuor Arthur-Leblanc I. Dominion-Chalmers Church. Music by Mendelssohn, Schumann.

8 p.m.:  Hilliard Ensemble I: Music from the Time of Caravaggio. Knox Presbyterian Church. (Festival-Plus concert. Requires an extra ticket.) With National Gallery Deputy Director David Franklin. Music of: Lassus, Palestrina, Pomponio Nenna, Victoria, Monteverdi and Salamone Rossi.         

8 p.m.: Pianist Peter Serkin in recital. NAC Southam Hall. (Festival Plus concert. Requires an additional ticket). Music by John Bull,  Debussy, Bach, Chopin and American composer Charles Wuorinen.

8 p.m.:  Harpsichordist Geneviève Soly; Natalie Michaud recorder; Church of St. John the Evangelist. Music of Bach, Telemann, Handel and Graupner.

11 p.m.: Cellist Matt Haimovitz: 300 Years of the Cello. Church of St. John the Evangelist. Music for solo cello ranging from Gabrieli to Berio.

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There was an instant standing ovation and roof-raising cheers for the beautiful and moving collaboration that was part of the opening-night concert for Julian Armour's new  Music and Beyond festival July 5.

In the first half of the concert at Dominion-Chalmers Church, the Emerson String Quartet performed pieces by Dvorak and Janacek, with some superb work by violinists Eugene Drucker and Phillip Setzer among the highlights. In the second half,  the group was joined by pianist (and chamber music giant) Menahem Pressler for a radiant performance of Dvorak's Quintet in A major for Piano and Strings.
Pressler founded the Beaux Arts Trio and was its pianist for more than 50 years. He and the trio inspired generations of musicians with their brilliant and sensitive music-making.

Now 86 and still in a marvel of form, Pressler produced heart-melting tone colours at the piano in a lovingly performed collaboration  that will be remembered as one of the highlights of the season. It was a wonderful joining of two superb musical forces, and the pianist and the string players sounded as if they perform together all the time.
A beaming Pressler, before joining the musicians in an equally transporting Brahms encore,  told the crowd what a pleasure it had been for him to perform with musicians he had known for years. He first met them, he said, "when they were boys and I was already old."
A respectable if less than capacity crowd  turned out for the concert on a steamy July night that broke temperature records. It's possible the heat kept away people who are unaware that Dominion-Chalmers Church is wonderfully air conditioned. Judging from the weather forecasts, that's going to be welcomed in the festival's first few days.

I could not get to the 2 p.m. concert by cellist Denise Djokic and pianist Peter Longworth July 5, but house manager Gaye Applebaum told me it attracted an enthusiastic crowd, about two-thirds full on a Monday mid-afternoon.

"The audience absolutely loved the performance and were really enthusiastic ," she said.

Spotted in the crowd for the Emerson Quartet concert and joining in the ovation were Ottawa pianists Sandra Webster and Dina Namer, who both studied with Pressler. Other musicians  in the crowd included Ottawa pianist Evelyn Greenberg, just back from Italy and raving about pianist Angela Hewitt's Trasimeno Music Festival.
Ottawa cellist and University of Ottawa cello professor Paul Marleyn, who was also there, told me he was as moved as the rest of the audience was by the performance.
"It's so inspiring to hear wonderful individual playing and fantastic quartet playing. It's great to hear Menahem Pressler in his 80s, just playing phenomenally. His feeling for music is so beautiful," said Marleyn, who said he hopes to attend many concerts at the festival.
"I'm really excited with the festival. I looked through the brochure when it came out and circled a whole bunch of concerts that struck me as interesting and unusual and fantastic artistry."
Before the concert, the crowd also stood and cheered festival director Julian Armour, who made brief opening remarks, thanked the crowd for coming and paid tribute to the many sponsors for allowing the festival to offer passes at affordable rates to the more than 80 concerts.The festival continues through July 14.

Festival passes, at $95 general, $50 for students, are a classical music bargain, granting entry to all but 11 events requiring an extra ticket.
Applebaum,  who is helping to recruit volunteers for the new festival, told me the festival could still use more volunteers to help out in the daytime concerts. If you're interested, you can e-mail Theresa Wilson at volunteer@musicandbeyond.ca or phone 613-241-0777.

If you missed Pressler at the July 5 festival opener, you can hear him in concert July 6 at 2 p.m., also at air-conditioned Dominion-Chalmers, in an appealing program. He'll be joined by Ottawa soprano Donna Brown, clarinetist Ross Edwards, cellist Julian Armour, violist Guylaine Lemaire and violinist Mayumi Seiler.
In repertoire ideally suited to her voice, Brown will perform Schubert's Shepherd on the Rock, accompanied by Pressler and Edwards.
Other pieces will include Mozart's Quartet for Piano and Strings in E-flat major and Dvorak's Quartet for Piano and Strings in E-flat major.


Other events July 6 include:

Noon, Church of St. John the Evangelist: Les Boréades de Montréal: The German Baroque. Music of Bach, BIber, others.

Noon, St. Andrew's Church: Montreal Symphony flutist Timothy Hutchins in recital with pianist Janet Creaser Hutchins in music by Bach, Ravel, Rachmaninov and others.

5 p.m.: St. Andrew's Church: Cellist Matt Haimovitz and pianist Jean Marchand in music by Poulenc, Janacek and Chopin.

5 p.m.: Church of St. John the Evangelist: British music critic Norman Lebrecht will discuss his novels, The Song of Names and The Game of Opposites.

8 p.m.: NAC Southam Hall. Soprano Kathleen Battle in recital. in music by Schubert, Liszt, Rachmaninov and a selection of spirituals.

8 p.m. St. Andrew's Church. Harpshicordist Thomas Annand in recital. Music by Scarlatti, Bach, Annand, Ligetti, others.

11 p.m. Church of St. John the Evangelist. Late Night from Hungary. Music by Kodaly, Brahms,  others. With cellist Denise Djokic, violist Jethro Marks, violinist Martin Chalifour, pianist Jean Desmarais.

Canadian pianist Janina Fialkowska, one of the performers playing Julian Armour's Music and Beyond Festival in Ottawa, will present an all-Chopin recital July 27 at the Thousand Islands Playhouse in Gananoque as part of a new four-concert summer classical music series. The performances in Gananoque will be hosted by classical music writer and broadcaster Eric Friesen, who will interview the musicians onstage as part of the performances.

The series opens July 6 at 8 p.m. with Artists of the Royal Conservatory Ensemble. This performance will include pianist David Louie, cellist Bryan Epperson and violinist Marie Barard (both of the Canadian Opera Company orchestra) in music by Haydn, Schubert and Brahms.

They will be followed July 20 by Montreal pianist André Laplante, July 27 by Fialkowska and Aug. 31 by Swiss pianist Gilles Vonsattel, winner of the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation's 2002 International Piano Competition.

All concerts start at 8 p.m. in the Playhouse's Springer Theatre. Single tickets are $40 (plus taxes and fees) or all four for $150.

Tickets can be reserved at 1-866-382-7020 or online at www.1000islandsplayhouse.com.

At Ottawa's Music and Beyond Festival, Janina Fialkowska will perform music of Chopin and Mozart with the Chamber Players of Canada in two different programs, July 11 and 13. The July 11 concert is at 2 p.m. at Dominion-Chalmers Church. The July 13 concert starts at 8 p.m. at Southminster United Church.

(Pianist Andrew Tunis performs July 7 and 10 at the Music and Beyond Festival. His concert picks include the Emerson Quartet with pianist Menahem Pressler on July 5, the Peter Serkin recital July 7 and Trio Hochelaga on July 9. Ottawa Citizen photo by Kier Gilmour.)

What: Music and Beyond classical music festival

When and Where: July 5 to 14, Ottawa churches and other venues

Passes and tickets: Passes, at $95 general; $50 students, as well as single tickets, will be sold at the concert venues. Three-day passes and single tickets are also available.

Details: For details on any of the concerts mentioned below , visit www.musicandbeyond.ca

More than 300 musicians will be in Ottawa to play the first edition of cellist Julian Armour's Music and Beyond classical music festival,which opens July 5, runs to July 14 and offers more than 80 concerts.

There will be orchestras, choirs, string quartets, piano trios, wind ensembles, pianists, cellists, accordionists and sax quartets. Performers include Les Violons du Roy, soprano Kathleen Battle, the Emerson String Quartet, pianists Menahem Pressler and Peter Serkin, Trio Hochelaga, the Vienna Piano Trio, the Moscow String Quartet, the Ottawa Bach Choir, Ottawa counter-tenor Daniel Taylor and the Theatre of Early Music and the British vocal quartet the Hilliard Ensemble in its Ottawa debut. 

I asked a few musicians to tell us about the concerts they hope to hear or concerts they wish they could hear if their schedules allowed. For details on concerts mentioned, visit www.musicandbeyond.ca. 

Cellist Denise Djokic

The Canadian cellist's concerts include a recital with pianist Peter Longworth July 5 and a July 8 performance of excerpts from the Bach Cello Suites that will include readings by Eric Friesen of poetry and literature inspired by the pieces. On July 9, she will perform with her parents (violinist Philippe Djokic and pianist Lynn Stodola) and her violinist brother Marc Djokic.

What She's Playing: “Julian has put together a unique festival program and I'm really looking forward to being a part of it. In my recital with Peter Longworth, I’ve included works of Schumann and Chopin, who have anniversaries this year.  I'll also play music of Martinu and Webern. I’m also playing a Bach concert with Eric Friesen, who will be narrating. I’ve enjoyed working with Eric for many years, and am thrilled about doing this kind of collaboration with him. My concert with my family will be a lot of fun for all of us. We usually play a yearly concert together during the holidays in Halifax. When Marc and I were kids, we used to come to Ottawa with our parents to hear them play during the summers. This will be the first time we perform as a family here.” 

What she hopes to hear: "One event I'd like to attend is the pre-concert yoga session (July 8 at 8:45 a.m. before the 10 a.m. concert by Arthur-Leblanc String Quartet). By the end of the summer, my back gets so tired from carrying my cello around and I really need to stretch it out. We musicians can sometimes neglect our physical health, and yoga sounds like the perfect addition to a music festival.

I'd love to hear Kathleen Battle (July 6, NAC). I've never heard her live, and have always wanted the chance to experience her music. Montreal group La Nef is playing a concert of Greek and Balkan music (July 9), which would be great to attend. I heard Balkan folk music from my Serbian grandfather when I was growing up, and still remember those melodies."

Violinist Philippe Djokic and Pianist Lynn Stodola

In 1994, the Halifax-based husband-and-wife musicians performed the first concert of the first Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, the event created by Armour. Their concerts at Music and Beyond include a recital July 10 in which Djokic and Stodola will perform the Elgar Violin Sonata they performed at the first chamberfest concert in 1994.

What they're performing: "We are thrilled to be playing as a family (July 9), and to re-live the memory of our first performance at the Chamber festival, where we performed the Elgar Violin Sonata," Stodola wrote in an e-mail.

What they hope to hear: "Our ability to attend concerts will be limited due to our rehearsal schedule. We both would love to be around for Kathleen Battle (July 6). Who wouldn't? There's one artist we have not heard live, so that would be an experience. On the other hand, the youngest on the roster of musicians, violinist Kerson Leong, would be of interest. (Ottawa violinist Leong, 13, performs chamber music with his cellist brother Stanley, 15 and their pianist mother Tu Mach July 10. Kerson Leong won the junior division of the 2010 Menuhin competion). "What an honour for him, and for Canada," says Stodola.

"Philippe is drawn to Schubert's Death and the Maiden (July 11, at the concert featuring mystery writer Peter Robinson). String quartets are his passion, hands down." For me," says Stodola, "Janina Fialkowska owns the repertoire of Chopin. She is the quintessential poet. Not to be missed! (Fialkowska performs Chopin and Mozart in different programs with the Chamber Players of Canada July 11 and 13).

Violinist Marc Djokic:

Djokic's concerts include his performance with his family July 9 and a recital with his father July 12.

What he Hopes to Hear: "I'd like to see the Arthur-Leblanc Quartet (July 8 at 10 a.m) and maybe I'll wake up in time for the pre-concert yoga at 8:45. It might be a little early for cobra position. The Gallery Project later that day at 2 p.m. is something I also want to check out, with some top musicians playing contemporary works. There's music by Scott Macmillan on that program. I often run into him in Halifax and have played a few of his works and arrangements. I'll be checking out the Leong Brothers (July 10 at 11 a.m). I've heard great things about these young musicians. I'm glad to see another family concert at the festival too! "

Soprano Donna Brown

What she's performing: I am looking forward to singing a broad and diverse range of music, all within a week. I will be singing one of my favourite pieces of all time, Schubert's Shepherd on a Rock, with pianist Menahem Pressler (July 6), who I think we could call the king of chamber music. I am very excited about working with him.  Pianist Stéphane Lemelin and I will be performing four beautiful Mahler songs within the context of a celebration of Mahler's 150th birthdate (July 7). Norman Lebrecht will be speaking on his latest book, and there will be other chamber music, so it will be an afternoon of celebrating Mahler, a composer whom I absolutely love. I will be participating in the concert of Ottawa composers (July 9), with songs by Roddy Ellias, for voice, harp, guitar and marimba. I am looking forward to sharing these touching songs with the audience. After that, I participate in the Baroque Celebration, with Daniel Taylor's Theatre of Early Music, and I will be celebrating Handel, with arias and a duet with Mr. Taylor. Handel wrote wonderfully for the voice."

What she hopes to hear: With all of the concerts and rehearsals, I won't have much time to go to other concerts. I hope to hear the Theatre of Early Music performance of Dido and Aeneas (July 10), for I have taught some of the singers who will be performing, and the Vienna Piano Trio (July 12, 13 and 14) and Trio Hochelaga (July 9 and 10). Not only have I sung with these two trios, I admire them as musicians and love them as friends."

Cellist Stanley Leong and violinist Kerson Leong

What they're performing: The two young Ottawa musicians have won multiple prizes and have performed with the NAC Orchestra. At the festival, Kerson, 13, and Stanley, 15, perform with their mother, pianist Tu Mach, in music by Bach, Sarasate, Dvorak and others July 10 at 11 a.m. at Church of St. John the Evangelist.

What they hope to hear: In an e-mail, Stanley Leong says he and his brother are looking forward to several concerts, including Kathleen Battle (July 6). "She has been an inspiration to us since we were very young. There is just something unique about her voice. It will be a great program."

Leong also hopes to hear cellist Matt Haimovitz (July 6 and 7). "Mr. Haimovitz's passionate playing has really interested me. I will be very excited to hear his interpretation of the Chopin sonata July 6. We are looking forward to violinist Jonathan Crow (July 10). Kerson loves the Ysaye solo sonatas. He will be very excited to hear another performance of it. And the Vienna Piano Trio (July 12 to 14). "It will be great to hear one of the best trios in the world playing some great trio music."

Pianist Andrew Tunis

What he's performing: "I am taking part in a concerts: July 7 and July 10. I will be playing in Mahler's single-movement piano quartet, his only piece of chamber music. It dates from his student years, and while not exactly on the level of his later works, it is of considerable interest. On the same program, I will be playing with Stéphane Lemelin a movement of Mahler's 6th symphony arranged for piano-four hands by his contemporary, Alexander Zemlinsky. On July 10 I will be playing another symphony arrangement, Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony arranged by his contemporary, the pianist-composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel, for piano, flute, violin, and cello. While both of these arrangements may seem to our ears to be pale imitations of the original, lacking the instrumental colour and grand scale which make them such great works, the arrangements date from a time where it was the only way for many people to have access to the music. It was a way of having a symphony in one's living room long before the days of recorded sound."

What he hopes to hear: "Certainly the Emerson Quartet with pianist Menahem Pressler on July 5. Combine a great string quartet, a living legend of chamber music (Pressler), and the exciting Quintet by Dvorak, and you are bound to have a memorable result. I am also a fan of Trio Hochelaga. Their programs generally combine impeccable renditions of the great standard trio repertoire along with unusual, rarely-heard works. Their first concert on July 9 will feature, in addition to a Schumann piano trio, the very beautiful but infrequently performed trio by Gabriel Fauré, one of his very last works. The real rarity will be the Piano Quartet by the short-lived Franco/Belgian composer, Guillaume Lekeu. Other concerts of interest, particularly due to the unusual repertoire: The Peter Serkin piano recital July 7. I have not heard him perform since my student days in New York in the 1970's. Besides his Chopin group, all of the repertoire is definitely off the beaten path.The Vienna Piano Trio July 13, performing among other works, a trio by Zemlinsky. Janina Fialkowska and the Chamber Players of Canada, playing Mozart and Chopin concertos in chamber music arrangements (July 11 and 13). While the music is very familiar, the setting is quite unusual."

Violinist Andréa Armijo-Fortin

What She's playing: On July 11 and 13, I am playing Chopin and Mozart piano concertos with pianist Janina Fialkowska. I am looking forward to Fialkowska's performance, as she is a wonderful interpreter of Chopin and Mozart. I am also quite excited to perform these concertos in the way they were performed centuries ago, which is with piano solo, five string players, and a few winds, rather than with a full orchestra. On July 11, I am playing the Schubert Death and the Maiden string quartet as part of the Music and Mystery with Peter Robinson concert. I have listened to that quartet about a thousand times, and even after all these years the second movement of that piece remains to me one of the most beautiful and poignant pieces ever written."

What She Hopes to Hear: I'm planning to attend as many concerts as possible. One choice would be concerts featuring pianist Menahem Pressler on July 5 and July 6. Pressler was the leader of the Beaux Arts trio for more than 50 years. His refined playing is truly a pleasure to hear.

Another pick would be the Vienna Piano Trio on July 12, 13 and 14. It will be a chance to hear a renowned chamber music ensemble and (at the July 12 concert) an opportunity to hear the interesting trio version of Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht, one of my favourite pieces of music. 

Another choice would be the great Canadian violinist Jonathan Crow on July 10. The entire concert features works for solo violin, with the spectacular Ysaye Ballade to close the evening. I find his playing intense and captivating, and the concert will show the versatility of the violin."

Pianist Stéphane Lemelin

What he's Performing: I am looking forward to playing four concerts this week: a Mahler program July 7 at noon that includes four wonderful songs with Donna Brown and the piano four-hand transcription of the first movement of the Sixth Symphony, which I will be playing with Andrew Tunis; a lovely trio by Reinecke for oboe, horn and piano with Chip Hamann and Lawrence Vine, also on July 7  at 2 p.m.; and two concerts with Trio Hochelaga, one on July 9 with Schumann, Fauré and Piazzolla trios, and one on July 10 noon with Beethoven and Mendelssohn trios.

 What he Hopes to Hear: 

I very much hope to hear Peter Serkin on July 7; he is a wonderfully intelligent musician and his program features rarely performed works. I would also like to hear the Vienna Piano Trio (July 12, 13 and 14). They are a very fine ensemble and they are playing some music that is close to my heart."

Festival Alexandria, the Sunday-afternoon summer classical music series that began on June 27, will present its second concert July 4, with a performance by Ottawa's Quatuor Despax and others in music by Messiaen and Haydn. The performance will be at the Abbey for the Arts near Alexandria, about an 80-minute drive from downtown Ottawa.

The concert will include Haydn's The Seven Last Words of Christ op. 51 no. 1-7 and Messiaen's  Quartet for the End of Time. Le Quatuor Despax is an Ottawa-area quartet of brother and sister musicians. Other performers at the concert will include Montreal Symphony clarinetist Michael Dumouchel, violinist Katherine Manker and the co-artistic directors of Festival Alexandria, cellist Brian Manker and pianist Lauretta Altman.

The performance starts at 3 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be reserved at 613-347-1602.

Remaining concerts in the series, as described on the festival website:

July 11- Happy Birthday Bob and Fred! - $20.00 - 3 PM

Festival Alexandria celebrates the 200th birthdays of the composer pianists Robert Schumann and Frederic Chopin. Festival Alexandria Co-Director and concert pianist Lauretta Altman brings to life the poetry of Schumann's Kreisleriana op.16, Chopin's Barcarolle op. 60 and the Fantaisie op.49. 

July 18- The Beethoven String Quartets, Part 3 - $20.00 - 3 PM

The journey continues through the Beethoven quartets, salon style, with musings by Brian Manker. Part 3 consists of the Great Fugue, Op. 133, Op. 18 #3 and Op. 59 #1. The Adorno Quartet-Johannes Jansonius and Katherine Manker, violin; Jasmine Schnarr, viola and Brian Manker, cello

For information, go to www.festivalalexandria.com

Here are driving directions from Ottawa, as taken from the Abbey for the Arts website:

By Car from Ottawa

From the 417, take Exit 35 and travel south on Hwy 34 to Alexandria. Continue through Alexandria on Hwy 34 to 9th concession (approx. 5 km from Alexandria town centre). Turn left onto 9th concession and travel east through Glen Norman to 3rd Line Road. Turn right (sign for Glen Nevis) and travel south for 4 km. Once in the village of Glen Nevis, turn right at the church (Butternut Lane). On your right you will see St. Margaret's of Scotland church, then the Rectory. The Abbey is the next building. 

(Frederica von Stade. Photo by Robert Millard)

She will perform a recital for the opening night of the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival July 24, but the night before that, the acclaimed American mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade will be part of a fundraising evening for the Ottawa Chamber Music Society.

On July 23, von Stade, who is performing in Ottawa as part of her international farewell tour, will sit down with veteran classical music writer and broadcaster Eric Friesen to look back on her remarkable career, which took von Stade to opera houses and orchestras around the world for more than three decades.

The fundraising event will take place in the  Canadian Museum of Nature and will include catering by Thyme and Again and a brief recital by young Ottawa violinist Kerson Leong, winner of the junior divison of the 2010 Menuhin Competition in Norway.

It starts at 7 p.m. Tickets, at $150, include a tax receipt for $70 and admission to von Stade's recital at Dominion-Chalmers Church July 24. Tickets priced at $95 include the fundraising event only. Tickets can be ordered through the festival office at 613-234-6306 or www.chamberfest.com. Von Stade's recital  will include music by Poulenc, Ravel, Copland, Mahler, Jake Heggie, Ambroise Thomas and others. She will be accompanied by Heggie.