Royal Canoe picks this week's Vancouver Is Awesome playlist
For many weeks now, (108 to be exact!), longtime R3 member and Vancouver Is Awesome writer Christine McAvoy has put together Scene and Heard, the weekly playlist at the popular site. To create the...
View ArticleOscar winner Christopher Plummer at concerts on demand
Christpher Plummer displayed his usual poise and wit on Sunday as he accepted the Oscar for best actor in a supporting role at the 84th Academy Awards. CBC Music's Concerts on Demand archive contains...
View ArticleWho is Ed Sheeran?
At the Brit Awards last Tuesday, a 21-year old singer-songwriter named Ed Sheeran snagged as just as many awards as Adele. Despite the acclaim, the natural question for many music fans outside of the...
View ArticleFreed and Found: The Ballad of Bruce Lee
Freed and Found is an ongoing feature where the staff of CBC Music digg though YouTube and only post the gold. In 1964, the Beatles played The Princess Theatre in Hong Kong. This performance was the...
View ArticleArt song finds a haven at Sparks & Wiry Cries
A new e-zine devoted to art song has lovers of classical vocal music talking. Sparks & Wiry Cries is an online community for singers, collaborative pianists, scholars and anyone who has been moved...
View ArticleJoseph Rouleau tells how he keeps on singing at 83
Feb. 28 is Canadian bass Joseph Rouleau’s 83rd birthday, and he’s celebrating by doing what he loves best: singing. Rouleau is currently in rehearsals for the Université de Montréal production of...
View ArticleMay I clap now? Take CBC’s classical music applause poll
Toronto music critic John Terauds blogged recently on the issue of when to applaud at classical music concerts. Concert-goers are divided, some adhering to the accepted custom of applauding only at the...
View ArticleKraftwerk, Hitler and the everyman
What is it about the Hitler/Downfall meme that is both so great and so terrible at the same time? The problem, I think, is that these videos turn one of history's biggest monsters into an everyman...
View ArticleThe spectrum of ukulele cuteness
While most of YouTube is populated by videos of cats and zits being popped (link not provided out of human decency), ukulele cover songs represent an ever-growing market. These videos are generally...
View ArticleRapper Shawn “Feenix” Bernard collaborates across the nation
Shawn Bernard lost his parents at a young age and grew up in the drug and gang underworld of Edmonton. He has seen tragedy, has done things he isn’t proud of and has paid the price for his actions. It...
View ArticleThelonious Monk: ‘Stop playing all those weird notes, play the melody!’
Thelonious Monk has been quoted (in an essay called “Thelonious Monk: Portrait of the Artist as an Enigma,” from The Thelonious Monk Reader as saying “let’s not talk about music, let’s play it.” Of...
View ArticleRising stars to watch: Diana Panton, high school teacher, jazz singer
For every precocious teen upstart hyped as the next saviour of jazz music, there are hundreds of more talented musicians honing their craft away from the spotlight in clubs, basements and partially...
View ArticleCellist Yegor Dyachkov's baroque influences
Last fall CBC Music approached six Canadian cellists to each record one of the solo cello suites by J.S. Bach. Yegor Dyachkov selected the fourth suite, and performed it in studio 12 at the Maison de...
View ArticleClassical Music A to Z: E is for Encore!
Classical Music A to Z aims to demystify the extensive, confusing and foreign terminology of classical music one letter at a time. In this edition, E is for encore – a word to shout if you’d like...
View ArticleRed Bull Music Academy gives DJs wings
Red Bull has gone to considerable lengths to make itself known as the late-night fuel to get you through a party. What is not so well known, outside of electronic music circles, is that Red Bull also...
View ArticleDid this Parks Canada TV spot inspire Boards of Canada?
Monitoring YouTube last Friday night, I stumbled across Retrontario's channel, an incredible archival history of Ontario's television past, featuring over 2000 clips to tickle your subconscious as you...
View ArticleYou oughta know: Sun Ra, aggressive weirdness backed by mega-talent
Celebrating anew the dearly departed whose impact on jazz remains hale and hearty. Name: Sun Ra Claim to fame: Aggressive weirdness backed by genuine talent. Ra’s audacious compositions, stellar...
View ArticleOSM premieres a concerto by José Evangelista
On March 2, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and its principal oboist Ted Baskin will perform the world premiere of Hautbois concertant by José Evangelista. The audience at Montreal’s Maison...
View ArticleVerdi's Aida, live from the Met
If you like to indulge in the grandest of the grand operas, Verdi's passionate portrayal of love in ancient Egypt is for you. Imagine walking in Aida's shoes (or sandals!). As a low-born slave, you...
View ArticleJazz festivals’ rising costs spark program changes
As they look toward early summer and the launch of another season, Canada’s major jazz festivals find themselves squeezed between rising costs and funding uncertainty. But, rather than singing the...
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