Larksong Recitals
Larksong recitals is a new concert series initiated in London, Ontario by Joshua Grunmann and his friends and family. The inaugural concert took place in November 2006.
The Larksong Recital Series has a primary focus of presenting classical singers in an intimate setting at the Wolf Performance Hall in London, Ontario.
For more information about tickets please send an email to josh.grunmann@gmail.com.
The upcoming 2007-2008 season includes:
Thursday, December 27th, at 2 pm and 3:40 pm, WOLF PERFORMANCE HALL, Central Public Library, 251 Dundas Street
THE STORY OF BABAR, THE LITTLE ELEPHANT (text by Jean de Brunhoff, music by Francis Poulenc) and animal songs with Jonny Wexler, narrator, Benoit Boutet, tenor and Joshua Grunmann, piano.
Tickets $25.00 for adults, $20.00 for seniors, $10.00 for children under 12. Family price $60.00 (two adults, two children). Tickets available through the Orchestra London Box Office (tel. 519-679-8778) and at the door. Mastercard and Visa accepted over the phone.
April 20th, 2008 3 PM WOLF PERFORMANCE HALL
A recital of songs and duets with Anita Krause, mezzo and Monica Whicher, soprano
General admission $30.00, $20.00 for students and seniors.
Tickets available through the Orchestra London Box Office (tel. 519-679-8778) and at the door.
Mastercard and Visa accepted over the phone.
BIOGRAPHIES
JONNY WEXLER, actor
Jonny Wexler is a Canadian actor from London, Ontario who was a member of the Original Kids Theater Company, the Amabile Boys' Choirs and attended London Central Secondary School. He is best known for his role as Moe Doodle on the children's TV show The Doodlebops, which airs on CBC in Canada, Disney Channel in the United States and in the UK.
MONICA WHICHER
Style and musical elegance combined with an intuitive theatrical sense are the hallmarks of soprano Monica Whicher's performances on the concert and opera stage. Ms. Whicher's 2005-2006 season was an eclectic mix of opera and concert repertoire. On her schedule for Opera Atelier were ARMIDE and ORFEO and she returned to Pacific Opera Victoria for Female Chorus in THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA. ELIJAH with the Vancouver Symphony, Bach's WEIHNACHTSORATORIUM for the Toronto Bach Consort, DIE SCHÖPFUNG for Orchestra London, Strauss' VIER LETZTE LIEDER with the Hamilton Philharmonic, Bach's Mass in B Minor for the Vancouver Bach Choir and Mozart's REQUIEM with the Victoria Symphony highlighted her concert schedule. Music of Grieg and Berlioz took her to the recital platform and she was also featured in a Christmas programme in Niagara Falls with Brass Ring. In the 2006-2007 season she repeats the Strauss songs for Orchestra London and the Ottawa Symphony, and is also scheduled for MESSIAH with the Colorado Symphony.
Further performance credits include MESSIAH with the Toronto Symphony, Mendelssohn's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM with the Hartford Symphony, Haydn's ST. CECILIA MASS for Chorus Niagara, Handel's SOLOMON and Bach's ST. JOHN PASSION. A Mozart interpreter of distinction, she sang Pamina in DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE for Opera Lyra in Ottawa, Elisa in IL RE PASTORE for the Canadian Opera Company and Zerlina in DON GIOVANNI for Vancouver Opera.
Ms. Whicher was nominated for a 2002 Juno Award for her CD entitled "Singing Somers Theatre" released on the Centredisc label.
ANITA KRAUSE
The mezzo-soprano Anita Krause has performed with many of North America's leading orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Toronto Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Les Violons du Roy, as well as with the orchestras of Vancouver, Calgary, Québec, Edmonton, Kitchener-Waterloo and the Canadian Opera Company. She has collaborated with such leading conductors as Christoph Eschenbach, Charles Dutoit, Hans Graf, Eliahu Inbal, Andrew Parrott, Bernard Labadie, Patrick Summers, Mario Bernardi, Gerard Schwarz and Yoav Talmi and Kevin Mallon. She has appeared to enthusiastic acclaim with the Canadian Opera Company in such rôles as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Emilia in Otello, Ursule in Béatrice et Bénédict, the madrigal singer in Manon Lescaut, and the title-rôle in Gary Kulesha's Red Emma. She has also enjoyed success in Salome with Seattle Opera and Opera Lyra Ottawa, Madama Butterfly with Glimmerglass Opera,
Semele with Chicago Opera Theater, Cornelia in Giulio Cesare with Pacific Opera Victoria, Mallika in Lakmé with Opera Ontario and Offenbach's Barbe Bleu with l'Opéra français de New York.
BENOIT BOUTET
Benoit Boutet is internationally recognized for his superb musicianship and the dramatic insight he brings to a wide variety of character roles and concert repertoire. The Canadian tenor’s schedule is peppered with twentieth century works including Britten's THE PRODIGAL SON (Britten Festival in Toronto, Guelph and London, Ontario), the title role in the World Premiere of Somers' MARIO AND THE MAGICIAN for the Canadian Opera Company and Toby in SWEENEY TODD for Calgary Opera. Mr. Boutet scored a personal triumph as Kudryas in Robert Carsen's production of KATYA KABANOVA and he also appeared as Andres in the COC's WOZZECK. Of special note was his performance in ELSEWHERELESS, the Egoyan/Sharman opera for Tapestry New Opera Works in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver. Most recently, Mr. Boutet premiered Barry Truax’s THE POWER OF TWO in Vancouver for the Modern Baroque Opera Company. Among other engagements for 2004-2005, were a ‘Pops’ programme in Winnipeg and CARMINA BURANA for the Calgary Philharmonic plus LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN (Nathanael) and MADAMA BUTTERFLY (Goro) for L’Opéra de Québec.
Mr. Boutet created the role of Simao Rodrigues in Rosa’s opera MELODIAS ESTRANHAS that premiered in Rotterdam with further performances in Zoetemeer and Porto, Portugal. Also on his schedule was Rameau’s PLATÉE at the Netherlands’ Nationale Reisopera. For Opera Saskatchewan, he was heard as Eisenstein in DIE FLEDERMAUS and the Simpleton in BORIS GODUNOV was on his schedule for the Canadian Opera Company. He returned to the Vancouver Opera for Narraboth in SALOME, a role he has performed with the Bournemouth Symphony and at the Southbank in London, U.K. Beethoven is represented in his repertoire by the role of Jaquino in FIDELIO (Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver and Toronto symphonies), Symphony No. 9 (Quebec Symphony) and the Mass in ‘C’ (Symphony New Brunswick). On the concert front, he has been featured in programs of opera & operetta excerpts, Schubert, and Berlioz with the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, the Phoenix Symphony, Toronto Symphony and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. He appeared as the Roasted Swan in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto (International Choral Festival) and Ottawa (Les Grand Ballet Canadiens). Mr. Boutet appeared twice for the COC in recent seasons as Vasek in THE BARTERED BRIDE and as Squeak in BILLY BUDD and returned in 2006 for the Fool in WOZZECK.
Mr. Boutet debuted in San Francisco as Fenton in FALSTAFF and returned for Laërte in HAMLET. The role of Chevalier de la Force in DIALOGUES DES CARMÉLITES has taken him to the Manitoba Opera, l 'Opéra de Montréal, Edmonton Opera and l'Opéra de Rennes. For the Minnesota and Manitoba operas, he was Nadir in LES PECHEURS DE PERLES, while in Vancouver, he appeared as Tom Rakewell in THE RAKE'S PROGRESS and Camille in THE MERRY WIDOW. He was in Nantes, Anger, Rennes and Tours for Messager's FORTUNIO and at Festival Vancouver as Snake in GAME MISCONDUCT by Leslie Uyeda.
The orchestras of Québec, Vancouver, Detroit, Edmonton, Thunder Bay, Calgary, and Montréal have engaged Mr. Boutet for works including Mozart's REQUIEM, CREATION, CARMINA BURANA, ROMÉO ET JULIETTE and L'ENFANCE DU CHRIST. He has also been featured with the orchestras of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Detroit, Cincinnati, Naples (Florida), and the Ravinia Festival under conductors including Charles Dutoit, Kent Nagano, Mario Bernardi, Erich Kunzel, and Andrew Litton. On video, he can be seen as Janek in the MAKROPULOS CASE and his discography includes Nathanël in LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN for Erato, Polynice in JOCASTE for MFA and Lord Cecil in ROBERTO DEVEREUX for the Nightingale label.