Musicians’ picks for Music and Beyond fest

At the sixth annual Music and Beyond festival, you can step inside the novel that won the $100,000 Scotiabank Giller Prize last November.

At Southminster United Church July 14, Ottawa writer Sean Michaels will offer readings from Us Conductors and Dutch virtuoso Thorwald Jorgensen will perform on the theremin, the electronic instrument that inspired the novel.

On July 8, you can spend an evening strolling the National Gallery, hearing short performances all over the building, all of it with a connection to the art on the walls.

At Dominion-Chalmers Church July 9, spend a few hours in the company of music lover and Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, who will host a concert combining music performances with stories of composers’ legal troubles.

These are among the more than 75 concerts and events the festival is presenting from July 4 to 17. It opens with music by Gershwin, Bernstein and others at Dominion-Chalmers and concludes there with an event combining music and performances by Montreal’s Cirque Fantastic. Under director Julian Armour, the festival presents classical and other styles of music. Some performances explore links between music and other art forms and disciplines, including film, art, literature and food. A free family music event at the University of Ottawa July 5 will include readings, games, brief performances and the chance for children to try their hands at dozens of instruments.

Star performers include Canadian pianist and composer Chilly Gonzales; Grammy-winning classical guitarist Jason Vieaux; Ottawa counter-tenor Daniel Taylor and his acclaimed baroque ensemble the Theatre of Early Music; the Vienna Piano Trio; the Auryn Quartet; sitar player Irshad Khan; British vocal octet Voces8; and mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta and soprano Yannick Muriel Noah — Ottawa-raised singers with international careers.

To give readers some ideas, we asked musicians to pick concerts they would love to attend. (For an expanded version of this article, with additional selections and comments, find this article at ottawacitizen.com/entertainment)

You can find the complete line-up at musicandbeyond.ca