NEXUS OPENS TORONTO SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL
WITH FOUR WORLD PREMIERES

July 19, 2006 (Toronto) – Canadian percussion group NEXUS will open the inaugural season of the Toronto Summer Music Festival on July 28 with a gala performance of four world premieres, announced Agnes Grossmann today.

“We are very honoured to have NEXUS performing these works here for the first time,” said Grossmann. “This concert launches a thrilling series of concerts and events which I am convinced will elevate Toronto’s reputation as a major cultural centre during the summer months”

Three members of the NEXUS ensemble, who have been together since their first improvised concert in 1971, will be premiering their own compositions.

‘In Need of Mozart, a comedic vignette co-written by NEXUS percussionist Robin Engelman, was commissioned for the opening of the festival by Grossmann.

“Because this is the year of Mozart and his music is frequently performed and heard everywhere, I decided to contrive a spoof about people who simply cannot get enough of his music,” said Engelman.

NEXUS member Gary Kvistad is making his premiere as a composer. The concert repertoire includes a performance of his first composition ‘Tiki Time’. The piece will be performed using unusual percussion instruments collected from around the world. Kvistad is the newest member of NEXUS, replacing original group member John Wyre in 2002.

The other two pieces being premiered are L. Caitlin Smith’s ‘Blue Sky’ and ‘Night Ride’ by NEXUS member Bill Cahn. ‘Night Ride’ was composed for and is dedicated to Kazunori Meguro and the students at Showa Academy of the Arts in Atsugi, Japan. Smith composed ‘Blue Sky’ in consultation with NEXUS member Bob Becker. The piece was inspired by song bells, a musical cousin of the glockenspiel. Smith is a Toronto-based composer whose works have been performed by Tafelmusik, Eve Egoyan, Arraymusic and others.

The 2006 Toronto Summer Music Festival runs from July 28 – August 20 and includes performances by renowned artists Richard Goode, Menahem Pressler, the Leipzig String Quartet, Ian Swensen, Shauna Rolston, Mayumi Seiler and Toronto’s own Gryphon Trio. The Toronto Summer Music Academy and Festival (TSMAF) is a project of the Silver Creek Music
Foundation.

For more information:
Sarah Kiriliuk, SISU Publicity
647-283-1766
Sarah_kiriliuk@sisupublicity.ca