What's On Past Events: 2024 / 2025

Invocations are calls for help, but they can also be appeals for inspiration and spiritual guidance. Violin virtuoso Lara St. John, soulful singer Aviva Chernick and other guests, join the celebrated Gryphon Trio in a rich musical offering that will resonate with each of us during those vulnerable moments when we, too, seek to invoke something beyond ourselves. One such invocation is the “nign”, a wordless and originally improvised prayer stemming from Hasidic Judaism in the 18th century, and is the inspiration for several works in the program: Avner Dorman’s Nigunim, recipient of The Azrieli Prize for Jewish Music; a world premiere by James Rolfe, Metzarim; and Aaron Copland’s classic Vitebsk. The program opens with Vivian Fung’s impassioned Prayer, inspired by Hildegard von Bingen, paired with Amy Beach’s spiritual plea Invocation. It closes with Robert Schumann’s epic and soul-searching Piano Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44.

We will host a pre-show chat with composer James Rolfe before the concert. The chat will be held in the Bluma Appel Lobby at the Jane Mallett Theatre, and the conversation will be led by Soundstreams’ Founding Artistic Director, Lawrence Cherney. The chat will run from 6:45pm – 7:10pm.

ARTISTS

Lara St. John, violin
Aviva Chernick, vocals
Noa Sarid, violin
Sheila Jaffe, viola

GRYPHON TRIO:
Annalee Patipatanakoon, violin
Roman Borys, cello
Jamie Parker, piano

Co-presented with Music Toronto. Presented with the support of the Azrieli Music Prizes Performance Fund.