Notice Board

Music at Noon Series
Women on the Verge
Expectations and Desires
October 23, 2018
12:15 pm, University Recital Hall
Free admission, everyone welcome!
Presented by the Department of Music

Women on the Verge was formed in 2016 with the desire to tell the stories of women’s lives. The recital "Expectations and Desires" features their new commission "Blue of the Distance" by Canadian composer Emilie LeBel as well as music by Hugo Wolf, Henri Duparc, contemporary American Composers Richard Pearson Thomas, Logan Skelton, Robert Spillman, Roberta Aldridge, and up-and-coming Canadian composer Cecilia Livingston.

Biographies

Women on the Verge was formed in 2016 by American soprano Emily Martin, Canadian soprano Elizabeth McDonald and Canadian pianist Kathryn Tremills.  The trio is connected by the performers’ mutual desire to explore the common thread of women’s lives through the millennia, including their strengths, struggles, and collective experiences. Their concerts are a forum to share information and experiences, to explore their knowledge and understanding of the music and text, and provide the audience an opportunity to learn about and reflect on situations and issues that have confronted women for a lifetime. During the 2018-19 season  the trio will be singing these stories in London, UK, Reykjavik, Iceland, throughout Alberta including Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, and Lethbridge, Toronto, and Seattle.

American soprano Emily Martin has regularly received acclaim for her “enchanting iridescence”, and has been called “dramatically energetic and skillful” for her operatic performing in opera houses across the US including The Santa Fe Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Opera Nevada, and the Chautauqua Opera.  Emily has graced the stage of Carnegie Hall in Handel’s Messiah and has presented solo recitals across the US and Canada.  Assistant Professor at Bucknell University and Director of the Bucknell Opera Theatre, Emily regularly teaches and directs around the United States.  As a certified yoga teacher (RYT) she has taught multiple singer and musician wellness classes and has presented on her wellness research at the Performing Arts Medical Association National Conference and the NATS National Conference. www.emilycmartin.com

Canadian soprano Elizabeth McDonald has a diverse career as a performer and teacher.  She performed as a young artist with the Santa Fe Opera as well as the Canadian Opera Company, where she made her mainstage debut as Elettra in Mozart’s Idomeneo. A member of the voice faculty at the University of Toronto, Elizabeth is a regular guest clinician at programs across Canada  including the Toronto Children’s Chorus, the Ontario Youth Choir, Cowtown Summer Opera Academy (COSA) and Canadian Opera Arts Academy (COAA) and has served as an adjudicator for the 2018 Canadian National Music Festival.  Her students have won major awards including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Competition, the Canadian Opera Company Centre Stage Competition, the Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition and have been featured on the 2016 and 2017 CBC's annual list "Hot 30 Under 30 Classical Musicians."  www.fromthevoiceof.ca

Canadian pianist Dr. Kathryn Tremills’  extensive performing career has taken her to the stages of Roy Thomson Hall, Koerner Hall, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Off Centre Music Salon, the Canadian Art Song Project, Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre Thursday Noon Concerts, and Pro Musica Detroit.  A three time Canada Council Grant recipient, she has appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras in North America, and has served as musical staff at the Canadian Opera Company, and the Toronto Children’s Chorus.  Kathryn is a Sessional Lecturer at the University of Toronto, and serves on the faculty at the Centre for Opera in Sulmona, Italy (COSI) and Canadian Operatic Arts Academy (COAA). www.kathryntremills.com 

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country.
Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. L’an dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de l’art dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.