2022-2023 Season
November 6, 2022
Laughing Musically
Come laugh with us! Not just for fun but for the magical release it brings. From satire to jokes to pure silliness, we will be splitting sides with works by Shostakovich, Poulenc, Saint-Saëns and Fauré.
Artists: Erica Iris Huang, mezzo soprano; Elina Kelebeev piano; Ernesto Ramirez, tenor; Ilana Zarankin, soprano; Inna Perkis, piano; Boris Zarankin, piano
Host: Dr. Julia Zarankin
Concert Sponsor: Anna and Leslie Dan and Flavia Morden
January 15, 2023
How do I love thee?
Let me count the players:
Chamber Music Opulence
In a concert dedicated to our favourite kind of music – the chamber variety – we go back to what Mahler called the beginning, “when music was meant to be listened to in a small space by a small audience”. Our space may not be exactly small, and our audience is always mighty, but the intimacy, the connection – between the players, of course, but also between those on stage and those in the hall- that is what Off Centre has always been about! The program will include Brahms’ tremendous op. 34 piano quintet (with our Rosebud quartet-in-residence) and the Canadian premiere of Ukrainian composer Valentin Bibik’s “Little Concerto” for piano trio.
Artists: Sheila Jaffé, violin; Aaron Schwebel, violin; Keith Hamm, viola ; Leana Rutt, cello; Inna Perkis, piano; Boris Zarankin, piano
Concert Sponsor: Molly Shainfarber and Philip Gold
May 7, 2023
Jimmy Roberts wishes Happy Birthday to Johannes Brahms
There’s a lot going on here, so follow closely: it’s Brahms’ 190th birthday today and we’re celebrating with New York City icon, musical theatre composer and pianist Jimmy Roberts. Why, you might ask? Well, it is a little known fact that the ever-serious Brahms idolized the music of Johann Strauss - in fact, when Strauss’s wife asked Brahms to autograph her fan, he wrote the first few notes of the “Blue Danube” waltz, and then wrote “Unfortunately not by Johannes Brahms!” underneath. From operettas to musicals is just a short hop, skip and jump – even quicker on a plane – and we’d love to have you join us in the celebrations that will take us around the world, with music from the golden age of New York’s musicals, to Brahms’ Vienna.
Artists: Steven Dann, viola; Andrea Ludwig, mezzo-soprano; Peter McGillivray, baritone; Jimmy Roberts, piano; Kathryn Tremills, piano; Inna Perkis, piano; Boris Zarankin, piano
Concert Sponsor: Katalin Schafer
Concerts will continue to be held at
Trinity - St. Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor Street West at 3 p.m.
2022-2023 Season Sponsor:
Horatio Kemeny
In normal times we strive to include as much collegial chamber music making as possible - we love the collaborative process, the musical conversations that arise, the shared laughter and tears.
And so do you!
Together with YOU, this season is our opportunity to get to know one another better:
- We will have fewer artists on stage. That means you will hear each of them better and see each of them more clearly.
- Fewer audience members in the hall means that we will see you more clearly and we will play and sing for each of you in a way that is perhaps more intimate.
You'll lean in. We'll lean in.
This is our challenge for the season: we are all being asked to be more actively engaged in the concert experience than ever before. After our long hiatus, we can’t wait for this kind of interaction.