The Royal Conservatory's Koerner Concert Hall will host over 85 concerts as part of its fall lineup.Eduard Hueber
Right from the beginning, seven years ago now, the Royal Conservatory's Koerner Hall was intended to be something more than a mute performing space gleaming on Bloor Street. It was to be the pulse that animated an ambitious series of concerts presented by the Conservatory, spanning and crossing musical genres, that would bring high-quality artists of all stripes to Toronto.
Tuesday night, Peter Simon, president of the Conservatory, and Mervon Mehta, executive director of performing arts, announced the Conservatory's lineup for next season, an ambitious series of concerts – more than 85 in all, basically one every three days from late September to late May – that will see big names in classical, world music and jazz rub shoulders with Canadian artists, ensembles from the Royal Conservatory itself, a returning new music festival and celebrations of famous anniversaries – Sinatra, Piaf and Yehudi Menuhin's 100th; Oscar Peterson's 90th.
Of those 85 concerts, the vast majority are one-offs, single evenings or afternoons. The RCM has established itself as part of a high-end performing circuit that routinely brings to Toronto some of the greatest artists in the world in all genres, so that the RCM lineup for next year looks like the seating arrangement at the Grammys. Classical pianist Paul Lewis sitting next to east L.A.'s Los Lobos; Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel rubbing shoulders with pianist Simone Dinnerstein; sitarist Anoushka Shankar beside the Vienna Boys Choir; violinist James Ehnes chatting with the Buena Vista Social Club; glam organist Cameron Carpenter comparing notes with Youssou N'Dour.
And then, for good measure, there's Meryl Streep, appearing at the season's gala opening with the Takacs Quartet and excerpts from Philip Roth's Everyman.
But the Conservatory has tried to be more than a high-end presenting house. Mehta is a programmer, someone who adds a curating function to the impresario's showmanship. The 21C New Music Festival, set for its third iteration next May, is a perfect example of clever programming that creates something new and exciting.
As well, the Conservatory will be noting the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina next year with a variety of jazz artists from Cuba, Haiti and the U.S. Gulf Coast and will present seven concerts, spread throughout the season, under the rubric Quiet Please, There's a Lady On Stage.
The Conservatory's musical offerings are ambitious and varied. If there's a flaw in its strategy, it's not really of its own making – the very breadth and depth of its concert offerings make it diffuse and hard to conceive as a distinct package. Not a problem for us concertgoers; maybe frustrating for an institution trying to establish its brand.