Peggy Feltmate: Blog

Bill Cahn on new Canadian Brass album

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New Release! The latest Canadian Brass album, “Canadiana”. The title says it all. This is an album that celebrates exceptional Canadian song-makers.  Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” is here along with works from popular artists Joni Mitchell, Drake, Daniel Caesar, Shawn Mendes, Rush, Deadmau5, k.d.lang, Lara Fabian, and Bruce Cockburn.  Bill was invited by the Brass to… Read more »

Honours for Garry and Russell

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At this month’s Percussive Arts Society International Conference in Indianapolis, Garry Kvistad and Russell Hartenberger received high honours. Russell received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Education, and Garry was inducted into the PAS Percussion Hall of Fame. Russell actually received the honour in 2020, along with co-recipients F.Michael Combs and William Moersch. But due to… Read more »

NEXUS at Fifty: PART 25: 2006

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TIKI TIME AND MOZART   We opened the inaugural season of the Toronto Summer Music Academy and Festival (TSMAF) in Summer ’06 with four world premieres! Following its recent preview, Bill Cahn had been able to put the finishing touches on his new work “Night Ride” so it received its official premiere here. The piece was… Read more »

NEXUS at Fifty: PART 24: 2005

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THE ABILITY TO BREATHE TOGETHER   We were honoured to have our Drumtalker album nominated for a Juno, the Canadian equivalent of the Brit Awards of Great Britain or the Grammy Awards in the USA. The reviews were in:   Payton MacDonald (American Record Guide) said,  “Nexus remains one of the great percussion groups in the world…. Read more »

NEXUS at Fifty: PART 23: 2004

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A KID IN A CANDY STORE: ELLEN TAAFFE ZWILICH    In March 2002 Ellen Taaffe Zwilich agreed to write a piece for NEXUS and chamber orchestra. We premiered the new work, “Rituals”, at the Germantown Performing Arts Centre in Tennessee with the IRIS Orchestra under Michael Stern in March 2004. Zwilich said that working with our… Read more »

NEXUS at Fifty: PART 22: 2003

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AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION   In 2003 we commissioned a new work from the distinguished Canadian composer Christos Hatzis, thanks to a Laidlaw Foundation grant. We premiered his piece “Four rituals for Percussion Quintet, Chorus and Audience in Dec.2004 in Toronto, and you can hear a 2005 performance at the Baie des Chaleurs Chamber Music Festival in Dalhousie,… Read more »

NEXUS at Fifty: PART 21: 2002

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WHEN KRONOS MET NEXUS   The Globe & Mail: “Thirty years ago, 2 ensembles were born – one American, one Canadian – as avant-garde music moved its locus of operation from Europe to North American. The Kronos Quartet from San Francisco soon became one of the leading new-music ensembles in the world…At almost exactly the same… Read more »

NEXUS at Fifty: PART 20: 2001

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DINING AT THE RITZ    We had a short July trip to Hong Kong and Singapore!  In Singapore we performed again in the Victoria Concert Hall as we had 6 years prior. In Hong Kong we gave a masterclass at the University and performed in Sha Tin Town Hall. Here’s Bill Cahn’s snapshot of Robin Engelman… Read more »

NEXUS at Fifty: PART 19: 2000

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GARDEN OF SOUNDS In February we released our album with clarinetist Richard Stoltzman entitled “Garden of Sounds” on the BIS label. We had recorded it with Richard the previous year at CBC Toronto. Ray Dillard and Bill Cahn were the producers, Mark Wright the recording engineer. The cover painting is Garden Shadows by our late… Read more »

NEXUS at Fifty: PART 18: 1999

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        “IN 20 YEARS WE’LL BE RETIRED” Not yet! In 1999 NEXUS was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society’s Hall of Fame – a great honour indeed. And this fall, 2021, our newest member, Garry Kvistad will receive that honour too. Lauren Vogel Weiss wrote a very fine article about NEXUS, describing… Read more »

NEXUS at Fifty: Part 17: 1998

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KIDS AND CONCERTS    We kicked off 1998 with 3 months of intensive touring, beginning with Canada’s National Arts Centre where we presented our new commissions and a new piece by John Wyre called Still Life. We would come back to the NAC in May for 3 more concerts with its orchestra under Boris Brott. From… Read more »

NEXUS at Fifty: Part 16: 1997

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RUNE We seemed to hit some kind of perfect constellation for CD recordings in 1997. February took us to California where we performed with the Pacific Symphony Orhcestra under Carl St. Clair in preparation for recording Takemitsu’s “From me flows what you call Time…” the following days. The reviewer of the performance said, “You listen… Read more »

NEXUS at Fifty: Part 15: 1995-1996

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1995   CATHEDRAL SONGS, PEEPERS and COLGRASS   CBC Producer David Jaeger had asked the Winnipeg Symphony’s composer-in-residence Glenn Buhr “to compose a piece that would be an expression of musical community building. The work would be designed as a surround-sound symphony for performance in the Barbara Frum Atrium at the new CBC Centre: on the ground… Read more »

NEXUS at Fifty: Part 14: 1993-1994

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1993   KROUMATA AND AMADINDA IN BUDAPEST   In Spring’93 the New York Times pointed out that “Canada takes the spotlight at this year’s Budapest Spring Festival”. We were honoured to represent Canada along with the Canadian Brass, Trio Lyrika, flautist Robert Aitken, pianist Katja Cerovsek and violinists Corey Cerovsek and Erika Raum. (In ‘92, Erika had… Read more »

NEXUS at 50: Part 12: 1989-1990

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#NEXUSat50   1988-1989    EVERYBODY’S WRITING!   In the midst of the heavy 1988 travel schedule we somehow found time to compose!  Toronto concerts and a Stamford CT concert in 1988 saw premieres of new works, as did Merkin Concert Hall in New York City in 1989: “Lali-Pops” by Wyre (not related to the movie that was just… Read more »

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