Ideas

In addition to more traditional programming, here are some ideas off the beaten track.


1. Double Concerti with Orchestra

Acclaimed Canadian composers Alice Ho and Andrew P. MacDonald have written riveting and accessible double concerti for Duo Concertante (with the assistance of CBC and the Canada Council, respectively). These can be programmed alongside each other, separately, or with Mendelssohn’s youthful and virtuosic Double Concerto in d minor.

2. Works with String Quartet

The Duo loves playing with other chamber ensembles. A prominent work in their repertoire is Chausson’s Concert for Solo Violin, Piano and String Quartet (this work is considered by some to be the greatest piece of chamber music ever written). The CBC commissioned for the Duo an amazing companion piece to this work, Faster Still, by the young, award winning Toronto composer Brian Current. The Mendelssohn Double concerto is another work that works well with a string quartet, instead of orchestra.

3. Bowties, with Gordon Stobbe (fiddle) and Greg Simm (guitar)

This is a 90 minutes show, filled with great music, fun-filled banter and unlikely musical partnerships. Canadian fiddle legend Gordon Stobbe and multi-talented Greg Simm team up with Duo Concertante in a show that explores the disparate (or are they similiar?) worlds of classical and folk music.

4. Oh Canada

The Duo loves the process of preparing for a premiere, working with composers, and championing their music. We have commissioned 14 works by many of Canada’s best composers including R Murray Schafer, Chan Ka Nin, Jean Lesage, Omar Daniel, Linda Bouchard, Kelly-Marie Murphy, Kati Agocs, Brian Current and Alice Ho. Future commissions include works by Andrew Staniland and Denis Gougeon.


5. Complete Beethoven

Duo Concertante can perform all 10 of Beethoven’s Sonatas for Violin and Piano in 3 evenings. They toured with these masterworks as part of their 10th anniversary season in 2008. This will be the Duo’s next recording project beginning June 2011.

6. Shall We Dance!

Narrated by Evelyn Hart, this program features dance music ranging from waltzes to tangos, sambas, tarantellas and sarabandes.


7. All’s Fair in Love and War

Impassioned works by Prokofiev, Schubert, Saint-Saens, and Mozart inspired by love and war are woven together with a terrific script by Paul Rice.


8. Late in a Slow Time by Chan Ka Nin

This wonderful work was recently recorded at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto with radio personality Barbara Budd (As It Happens). This unique and deeply compelling piece sets to music seven poems by Governor General Award-nominated poet Carole Langille. the Duo has performed this work with Caroline Schiller, Lorna MacDonald, and Evelyn Hart.


9. Encore!

Here are a few of our encore pieces which were arranged for us by Cliff Crawley. They make a great program on their own or can be incorporated into more traditional programs.

Gershwin Lady Be Good
Mozart Turkish March
Bonfa Black Orpheus
Gillespie A Night in Tunisia
Abreu Tico Tico
Rodgers It's a Grand Night for Falling in Love on a Carousel (in Vienna)