HAPPY BIRTHDAY EUPHONIA!

In April 2013 a group of like-minded classical musicians came together to form a group that would take classical music out of the concert hall, reaching out to a new audience by performing in venues such as pubs, clubs and public spaces. That group is euphonia and they are celebrating their first birthday on April 14!

Recently nominated for a Premier's award, the group's conductor and general director, Simon Capet, looks back on the year with a sense of pride and amazement. “That we manged to get the group together in the first place was a huge achievement. That we have stayed together for twelve-months and have achieved so much is a minor miracle! Keeping an arts organization afloat on the present economic seas is treacherous enough but launching one, well that’s quite simply madness. I’m just glad that there are enough wonderfully talented musicians who are as mad for adventure as I am.”

The group plays with passion and skill and their often sold out monthly shows at Lula Lounge are attended by a refreshing mix of people of all ages and backgrounds. They’ve been called “The Hippest Band Around Town” by David Farrell of newcanadianmusic.ca; “Toronto’s Hottest Classical Band” by John Terauds of musicaltoronto.com; Robert Rowat of the CBC highlighted them as a ‘Hot Trend’, and in a bachtrack.com poll of the world’s favourite orchestras of 2013 they made the top 100.

The ensemble is building their reputation by presenting shows that are adventurous and exciting, challenging and varied. They make classical music more accessible and engaging not by dumbing it down, but by being daring in their programming. On April 14th euphonia is continuing in audacious fashion by performing a REDUX version of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony. A transcription for 13 instruments and soprano. Joining euphonia for the April 14th birthday show is Soprano, Erin Bardua.

“I love chamber versions of large-scale orchestral works,” says Capet. “This version is in no way inferior to Mahler’s original. It simply offers different perspective on his vision. I see these reproductive-transcriptions as the musical equivalent of the art of the master engraver who revisits a great painting using only black lines on white paper; his insight and skill can give us a totally new perspective on the original. To experience a symphony by Gustav Mahler is to embark on an epic journey. To experience that journey up-close and intimately at Lula Lounge will be a spine-tingling adventure.”

Join the adventure on April 14th.

Media Contacts

FOR LULA: Tracy Jenkins, tracy@lula.ca, (416) 588 0307

FOR EUPHONIA: Simon Capet, simon@simoncapet.com, (416) 893 6264

www.euphonia.ca