Congratulations to Lyssa Pelton, the newest member of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra!

MPM Alumnus, Lyssa Pelton, will join the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra this fall as a core member of the first violin section!

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Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, Lyssa Pelton began violin at age eight with Michelle Stewart and later, MPM Faculty Member, Rachel Handman. After moving to Toronto, Lyssa studied with MPM Faculty Member, Marie Bérard, at The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music for six years.Lyssa won first place in the 2007 Stringendo Competition, and the Virtuoso in Progress (VIP) Competition in 2009. Since graduating, Lyssa has won the position of Acting Assistant Concertmaster with the Kingston Symphony Orchestra, she performs regularly with the Toronto Symphony  and is Principal Second Violin with the Etobicoke Philharmonic. Notable performances include New Creations Festival 2016 with the Toronto Symphony, the album release of Nudging Forever with jazz pianist Mike Jansen, and Godfather: Live with conductor Justin Freer at the Sony Centre. In addition to performing, Lyssa runs sectionals with the Etobicoke Philharmonic.

For tickets to hear her play visit hpo.org/

Congratulations to Emily Krupse, the Newest Member of the Rolston String Quartet!

Currently  serving as the Yale School of Music’s fellowship quartet-in-residence. The Rolston String Quartet won First Prize laureate of the 12th Banff International String Quartet Competition, and was named among the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s 2016 “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30.” Recently, Musical Toronto said, “they performed with a maturity and cohesion rivaling the best string quartets in the world.” A winner of Astral’s 2016 National Auditions, the quartet was also the Grand Prize winner of the 31st Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition, as well as prizewinners at the inaugural M-Prize competition (2016) and the 2016 Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition.

If you're in Toronto on April 8th, they'll be performing the Debussy String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10 and the Schumann Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44 (with Robert McDonald) at the Royal Conservatory of Music, a performance not to be missed!

For more info and performance dates find them at http://www.rolstonstringquartet.com/

This Saturday, Violinist Lisa Ueda, Former Music at Port Milford Student, Joins Pianist Daniele Rinaldo on Stage to Perform "War and Japan - A Musical Journey"

In The UK?! This Saturday evening, March 4th, award winning violinist Lisa Ueda will take the stage at College Chapel in London, with pianist Daniele Rinaldo to explore questions of war through music in the event "War and Japan - A Musical Journey."

This concert, co hosted by by the Kings Japan Programme and the Arts & Conflict Hub in the Department of War Studies, seeks to engage with such questions as "Is there a universal way to look at the tragedy of war? and What are the expressions of war in the contemporary world?" through repertoire that explores the relationship between Japanese and European musical aesthetics that consolidated in the first half of the 20th century.

For more information about the concert and to reserve a seat, click here.

For more information about Lisa and her upcoming concerts, click here.

Congratulations to Kokoe Tanaka Suwan, Former MPM Student, Featured in Oscar Nominated Film "Joe's Violin"

Tune in to the Oscars this Sunday to cheer on former Music at Port Milford student, Kokoe Tanaka Suwan, who is featured in the Oscar nominated short documentary film Joe's Violin.

Kokoe is a professional violinist and the music director at the Bronx Global Learning Institute for Girls, a school that was chosen to receive the violin of a Holocaust survivor, Joseph Feingold, who had donated his violin to the WQXR Instrument Drive. Joe's Violin tells the story of an unlikely friendship formed by music, hope, resilience and one very special violin (Salon.com).  Watch the full film here and don't forget to watch the Oscars this Sunday!

 

Congratulations to Jessie Montgomery, Former Music at Port Milford Student and Faculty Member, for her Collaboration on the 2017 Grammy Award Winning Album: Sing Me Home!

ON SUNDAY, The SILKROAD ENSEMBLE WON THE 2017 GRAMMY FOR BEST WORLD ALBUM: SING ME HOME,  WITH COLLABORATING ARTIST, Jessie MONTGOMERY, VIOLIN

Formed by Yo-Yo Ma in 2000, the Silkroad Ensemble was established to "explore how the arts can advance global understanding."  This in only one of many amazing works that Jessie Montomery has been a part of. Hailing from New York City, Jessie is a violinist, composer and educator. In October 2015, Azica Records released "Strum," marking Jessie's debut as leading composer and performer, to much praise. The Washington Post described the album as “Turbulent, wildly colorful and exploding with life, 'Strum' sounded like a handful of American folk melodies tossed into a strong wind, cascading and tumbling joyfully around one another.”

If you are in the New York area tonight the PUBLIQuartet will be leading a conductorless orchestra at The MET Fifth Ave. in a performance that will feature Jessie's composition Banner, commissioned by the Sphinx Organization, and based on the national anthems of America's immigrants and indigenous people's. Banner received a rave review by the New York Times in 2014.

To read more about Jessie and stay up-to-date with her compositions, album releases, classes and performances, check out her website here.

MPM Alum Paul Wright Wraps Up an Amazing 2016 with his Band, Tall Heights!

Last Friday, MPM Alum Paul Wright, and his band, Tall Heights, played their last 2016 concert to a sold out audience at The Sinclair in Boston!

2016 has been full of success for Tall Heights; they were signed to Sony Records, released their album Neptune to rave reviews, toured the States and Europe, played on the Conan show, were featured on Spotify's "Chill Covers" playlist, and just this week their song "Spirit Cold" has been featured on the CBS shows Pure Genius and Code Black!

If you missed them in 2016, they'll be back on the road in March 2017. Check out their tour dates here. And if you can't catch them live, you can listen here

MPM Alum Jamie Kruspe, Assistant Concertmaster of the COC, Returns to the Stage in January!

Jamie Kruspe, Music at Port Milford Alum, and Assistant Concertmaster of the Canadian Opera Company, returns to the stage on January 18th, kicking off the rest of the COC's 2016/2017 season with Mozart's The Magic Flute.

Jamie Kruspe is just returning from Barbados where he was joined by various prestigious musicians (including Marie Berard, Concert Master of the Canadian Opera Company, and long-standing MPM faculty member, and his sister, Emily Kruspe, also an MPM alum!),  in the All-Star Orchestra for the Classical Pops series.

While we would have loved to have caught his performances in Barbados, you can warm up with some incredible upcoming performances by the COC. And f you're under 30 and in the Toronto area, you can see the rest of the COC's season's preformances for $86! Check out more info here

Pacifica Quartet to Debut World Premiere of Hamelin's Piano Quintet

The Grammy Award-Winning Pacifica Quartet, which features MPM alum Masumi Rostad as its violist, will be performing the world premiere of pianist Marc-André Hamelin's Piano Quartet, commissioned for the Segerstrom Center’s Chamber Music Series on February 2nd, 2017. The evening also includes Mozart’s String Quartet in D Minor, K.421 (1785) and Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44 (1842). Tickets are available here

Read more about their past collaborations with Hamelin and other great interviews on the Pacifica Quartet's blog, "Conversations with the Pacifica Quartet" hosted by Indiana University, where they have been the Quartet-in-Residence since 2012. Check out the blog here

MPM Alum Adrain Rigopulos Joins the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra

Congratulations to Music at Port Milford Alum, Adrian Rigopulos, who joins the Helsinki Philaharmonic Orchestra on Tutti Double Bass!

Fun Facts: 

The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra was the first professional symphony orchestra to be founded in the Nordic countries, has been operating without a break for 132 years.

The HPO has grown from a band of 36 players to an orchestra of 102 regular members giving concerts attended by a total audience of a good 100,000 a year at the Helsinki Music Centre and abroad!

Between 1892 and 1923 the HPO gave the first performances of almost all the symphonic works by Jean Sibelius with the composer himself conducting.

If you happen to find yourself in Helsinki, make sure to catch one of their amazing performances and cheer on Adrian! Concert schedule here.