Big News: I made a recording!

Well, friends, big news:

I'm so pleased and excited to announce that I've finished recording my first full-length album, partnering once more with my good friend Philip Chiu!

The recording, which features music by Debussy, Janacek, and Canadian composers Vivier, Carrabré, and Willan, was finished over a three-day period in Montreal at Concordia University's Oscar Peterson Hall. The magnificent Jeremy Tusz (of Diapason Mobile) was at the helm, assisted by Paul Scriver.  The four of us are pictured above, just after the final session ended.  (Phew!)

I'll be posting updates as this project develops - I'm very excited to share this with you all!  Wishing you all a very restful and fulfilling holiday stretch.  May you eat great food surrounded by friends and family!

Toronto Summer Music Festival: Thursday, July 24, 2014

I'm very pleased to be performing as part of the Toronto Summer Music Festival's Shuffle Concert series next week.  The Shuffle series, inspired by the mix of music you'd typically find on an iPod, are informal, eclectic one-hour performances by Festival Artists, special guests, and next-generation emerging artists. I'll be joined by my friends Alexandru Sura (cimbalom) and JC Lizotte (cello), playing Eastern European Folk Music (mostly Ukrainian).  We'll finish the program with a new arrangement of Ravel's Tzigane.  Looking forward to seeing you there!

Carissa Klopoushak & Friends

Thursday, July 24, 5pm The charismatic Canadian violinist performs a folk-inspired program with cimbalom player Alexandru Sura and cellist JC Lizotte.

Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave

Pay What You Can

Montreal Chamber Music Festival 2014

Directly after Ritornello Fest, I flew to Montreal to participate in a series of concerts with my friends and fellow laureates of the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank competition. The laureates took turns performing on the noon-hour series called "Bach's Lunch."  Kerry DuWors and I took the opportunity to play together, performing Bach's 2-part Inventions for violin and viola, solo Bach movements, and other violin duos by Leclair and Bartok.  You can read all about the noon hour concerts, reviewed by All Things Strings, here.

In addition the lunch-time concerts, we had the marvellous privilege to perform the orchestral parts to Martin Beaver's Four Seasons and to Mozart's 5 violin concerti, performed so generously by Cho-Liang Lin.

PBS Video Feature on the Montreal Chamber Music Festival

I was recently featured in a PBS special on the Montreal Chamber Music Festival and the Canada Council Instrument Bank. The festival runs May 9 - June 1; I'll be participating in events on May 22 and 23 as part of "Bach Week."

Montreal Collective Orchestra Concert

Here's a photo from the first concert of the Montreal Collective Orchestra - Orchestre Collectif de Montréal.  We performed Beethoven's Serioso Quartet Op. 95 (arr. Mahler) and Tchaikovsky's String Serenade for an enthusiastic and large audience.  I'm very much looking forward to the next project with this group! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

L'Orchestre Collectif de Montréal - Montreal Collective Orchestra

I'm very happy to announce the birth of a new project that I've been scheming about for a long while...

The Montreal Collective Orchestra is a conductor-less chamber orchestra in Montreal made up of young versatile and innovative musicians who have come together to experiment and bring new life to the performance of large-scale chamber music.  Founded in 2012 by Andrea Stewart and Carissa Klopoushak, the members of the Montreal Collective Orchestra work together in an atmosphere that is conducive to creativity, excellence, and a good time, resulting in performances that are engaging, energetic and truly reflect the calibre of the musicians that partake in them. Without a conductor, the propelling force behind the artistic decision-making process one that is inclusive and democratic – that is to say, collective.

The group's first concert takes place on Saturday, March 9th at 4:30pm at Christ Church Cathedral, downtown Montreal.

On the March 9th program: Tchaikovsky's String Serenade, Op. 48 in C major, Beethoven's Quartetto Serioso, Op. 95 in f minor, arranged by Mahler for string orchestra, and bits by Dvorak.

Follow MtlCollectif on Facebook or on Twitter

Christ Church Cathedral is located at: 635 Sainte-Catherine St W, Montreal, QC H3A 2B8 Station McGill

New Video: Warhol Dervish playing Nico Muhly

Here is a live video of Warhol Dervish (John Corban and Carissa Klopoushak; violins, Pemi Paul, viola; JC Lizotte, cello) playing Nico Muhly's Diacritical Marks at the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, August 4th 2012.  It was part of a larger program of Works for Heart and Breath by Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire bassist), with a first half of  works by Muhly, Bryce Dessner (The National), and Terry Riley.   More videos to come...

Portmantô Ensemble in Montreal, Thursday June 21.

A glimpse from our (ridiculously warm) rehearsal today. Come see the concert tomorrow night, 8pm, Chapelle Saint-Louis (in Jean-Batiste on Rachel/Drolet).