While performing with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Carissa performed on their new recording, Richard Tognetti and ACO play Vivaldi - The 4 Seasons. Made to celebrate the ACO's 40th anniversary, the album features many of Vivaldi's iconic concerti. Listen to it here.
My Ukrainian party band, Tyt i Tam (pronounced Toot Ee Tahm), keeps a busy schedule in the month of January, playing Malanka (Ukrainian New Year) celebrations all around the country. On the January 9th, we played in Toronto at a Pub Night before the main event on January 10th at Liberty Grand. Both events were so much fun! We also managed to get some video of our set - here's one of our songs that will come out on our upcoming 2015 release, called Медове пиво - Щедрий Вечір (Honey Beer), a traditional Shchedrivka (New Year's Carol). Enjoy!
If you like our sound, follow us on Facebook or Twitter, or check out www.tytitam.com.
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!
We had a great time performing at Toronto's Gallery 345 last Tuesday, December 9th. It's a wonderful space to play in - I hope to be back again soon! Our concert was also featured as one of Musical Toronto's Critic's Picks. I'm getting really excited for this recording!
Grand announcement time!
I'm thrilled to let you all know that I'll be recording an album with Philip Chiu, performing sonatas by Leos Janacek, Claude Debussy, and Healey Willan, and shorter pieces by Pat Carrabré and Claude Vivier.
Aside from the obvious reasons for recording (it's so much fun!), I'm nearing the end of my tenure with the Canada Council Instrument Bank's 1869 Vuillaume violin and Vuillaume workshop bow - and there's no better way to celebrate than to record! The pieces we're recording are things that the Phil and I have performed together a great many times, starting as early as the 2009 Eckhardt-Grammatté competition winner's tour (Carrabré's Chaconne was the commissioned piece that year), and more recently on our 2013 Debut Atlantic Tour.
We've just finished a couple of private house concerts in Montreal and Gatineau, QC, and are excited to bring the show to Toronto on Tuesday, December 9th, at Gallery 345. Please come! Bring friends!
I'm currently on the road with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, touring England and Scotland to commemorate the 100th anniversary of WWI. To date, we've performed in Edinburgh and Nottingham, and last night we performed a joint concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir which culminated in a boisterous rendition of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Oh yes, and HRH Prince Charles was in attendance :)
My many MANY tour photos will come at a later date, but for now, here's a little clip from the 4th movement, the "Ode to Joy":
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Whn1urlpWvw] Off to Salisbury tomorrow, where we will perform in the renowned Cathedral. That performance will be broadcast on CBC Radio 2 on November 9th and 11th, and on CBC Television sometime during the holiday season. Stay tuned!
I uploaded a small excerpt of the folk-inspired concert at Toronto Summer Music Festival, July 24, 2014, Heliconian Hall, Toronto. More to come later... Гуцульська Фантазія - Hutsul Fantasy (trad. Hutsul/Carpathian Ukrainian)
Carissa Klopoushak - violin Alexandru Sura - cimbalom JC Lizotte - cello
I'm very pleased to share that I've joined Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa as of September 1, 2014. I've had the great pleasure of playing and traveling with this group extensively for the last 5 years, and am happy to make a home in this great city with these wonderful colleagues.
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!
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
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.
