Join members of the St. Lawrence Lesley Robertson, viola, Owen Dalby, violin, as they welcome long-time friends cellist Nina Lee (Brentano Quartet), pianist Stephen Prutsman and bass player Joel Quarrington to their Toronto home.

Hailed by The New Yorker “not simply for the quality of their music making, exalted as it is, but for the joy they take in the act of connection,” the acclaimed St. Lawrence continues its more than 30 year relationship with Music TORONTO.

The first piano graduate of the prestigious Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles, Australian-born David Fung also studied at the Hannover Hochschule für Musik and at Yale. Mr. Fung is on faculty at the University of British Columbia and curates the Spirio Piano Series at the Chan Center in Vancouver. A rising star in the international piano world, Mr. Fung is widely recognized for sterling technique, full control and great musicality. Mr. Fung regularly appears with the world’s premiere orchestras, in recital and in chamber music.

The Ying formed in 1988 and are thus the same generation as the St. Lawrence, who introduced the Ying to us in October 1997 when they played the Mendelssohn octet together as young quartets. The Ying also played for us in Nov. 2007 and Dec. 2009. Their return is long overdue.

Pianist, composer, educator, writer, Jamaican-born Canadian Maria Thompson Corley holds a doctorate from Juilliard and enjoys an active career in all its facets. Her concert career as soloist and as collaborator, especially with vocal artists, has taken her around the world.

A string quartet for the 21st century, the Verona Quartet champions the rich breadth of the string quartet repertoire from the time-honoured canon through contemporary classics. Mentored by the Cleveland, Juilliard and Pacifica Quartets, the Verona Quartet captured top prize wins at the Wigmore Hall, Melbourne and Osaka Competitions, as well as the 2015 Concert Artists Guild Competition. In 2020 they won the prestigious Cleveland Quartet award. The Quartet serves on the faculty of the Oberlin College and Conservatory as the Quartet-in-Residence.

Echo - Memories of the World

In a world filled simultaneously with beauty and horror, the need for reparation and reconciliation has never been greater.

In collaboration with a global circle of Indigenous and non-Indigenous composers, poets, researchers, theatre artists and filmmakers, the Gryphon Trio and guest artists Marion Newman and Aaron Wells present Echo(s): Memories of the World. Transiting time and memory, this moving experience explores how history is erased, altered, and attacked. At the same time, it celebrates visionary artists resisting suppression and gives voice to works of enduring beauty.

Respecting the richness and complexity of our diverse human family empowers healing.

This performance is in honour of this.

Born in Montreal and Toronto respectively, Canadian pianists Anne Louise-Turgeon and Edward Turgeon have been performing professionally since 1996. The Turgeons are graduates of the University of Toronto and Yale University. They appear throughout the world, and have released several CDs. Winners of major piano duo completions, they now serve as jurors for such events around the world. After many years as keyboard faculty and ensemble-in-residence at Florida Atlantic University, they are now artists-in-residence at Algoma University in Sault Ste Marie.

The National Post called them “two natural musicians who breathe, think and play as one.

Celebrating the inspiration of Geoff Nuttall (1965 - 2022) and his boundless energy, a program of all Haydn. The string quartets of Joseph Haydn had no bigger evangelist than Geoff Nuttall, founding violinist of the St. Lawrence String Quartet. He played the quartets with incredible passion and inspired decades of students with his commitment to active music-making.

Having presented Geoff and the St. Lawrence Quartet in Toronto for over 25 years Music TORONTO is honoured to host this gathering of St. Lawrence Quartet members past and present, colleagues and community music lovers of all ages, who will play side by side with students in a joyful tribute to Geoff.

Quatuor Danel celebrated 30 years at the forefront of the European music scene in 2022. The Danel is known for its deeply personal interpretations of the string quartet cycles of Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Shostakovich, and Weinberg, and its lively and fresh vision of traditional quartet repertoire. The Danel has championed the string quartets of Shostakovich and enjoyed rich collaboration with major contemporary composers. The quartet has been artist-in-residence at The University of Manchester since 2005.