Vera Polozkova & Alex Manotskov

Meridian Arts Centre, Toronto (14.04.2023)

“Hand luggage” (Poetry and Songs) program

Hand Luggage is a dialogue between two authors, a composer and a poet. It’s like a personal archive of plots and stories that they were eyewitnesses to. Previously, they sounded like an attempt at a summary, a detailed account of what a person says goodbye to and what a person gains when he enters maturity. Now this is a confession about life before the war. About what we actually took with us when we left.

Vera Polozkova: “We sing and read about what a person feels when the world is cracking right under his feet. About war, about loss, about gratitude, about hope, about despair. About memory. About what remains yours when you lose everything. About what cannot be taken away from you as long as you are alive.

Since ancient times, there has been such a form – the alternation of reading the text and, immediately, singing it – the text, as it were, is highlighted from different sides. This song cycle arose quickly and unexpectedly. Just as unexpectedly, an unusual instrumentation was born – electric bass and voice. But, as sometimes happens, what appears unexpectedly has long-term consequences.

All pictures: flic.kr/s/aHBqjAACDa

The Woodshed Orchestra

Moonshine Cafe, Oakville, Ontario (28.01.2023)

Band: Legendary Toronto drummer Dave Clark, Joe Lapinski – guitar & vocals, Rebecca Hennessy – trumpet & vocals, Julia Hambleton – clarinet & vocals, Michael Herring – bass, bass drum/cymbalist & vocals.
The Woodshed Orchestra mashes up classic dance styles from all over the world into a soulful celebration.
This band is a funky, uplifting and joyful ride every time it plays.

All pictures: flic.kr/s/aHBqjAqq5A

Noize MC

Ivan Alekseev (Noize MC) in Toronto. “Everything is like people” tour in North America
The Opera House, Toronto (26.11.2022)

Russian rapper, singer, and actor Ivan Alekseev, better known by his stage name Noize MC, performs in Canada and the United States as part of his “Everything is like people” tour in November-December 2022. By the summer of 2022, the artist is preparing a special program consisting of iconic songs for all 19 years of the group’s existence, as well as fresh tracks from the new, already sensational album “Exit to the City”, which managed to gain love and popularity among listeners. This performance has everything that we love so much in Noize MC: individual musical style, sarcastic rap on topical topics, sensual, romantic songs with a guitar, as well as Ivan Alekseev’s unique freestyler talent – whoever heard it at least once will never forget this performance ! Obviously, Noize MC is the main musician of our time today.

All pictures: flic.kr/s/aHBqjAhkZr

Cirque Du Soleil – Alegria

Grand Chapiteau at Ontario Place, Toronto, Ontario. November 11, 2019.

Original size versions: flic.kr/s/aHsmJEmCqP

Yiddish glory

The Lost Songs of World War II
Koerner Hall, Toronto. (August 28, 2018.)

The story:

Yiddish Glory features anti-fascist songs and music documenting Nazi atrocities that were discovered in a former Soviet archive in Kiev. The songs have been resurrected by Yiddish Glory in a jaw-dropping new recording of music written by Holocaust victims and survivors in the Soviet Union during World War II.

Many of the songs are grassroots accounts of Nazi atrocities in Ukraine at sites such as Babi Yar, Pechora and Tulchin, while others are explicit descriptions of resistance and revenge. Most of the songs were written by women and children, perspectives rarely seen in music of this period. The songs were collected by a team of Jewish Soviet ethnomusicologists led by Moisei Beregovsky during the war, but shortly afterwards, during Stalin’s anti-Jewish purge, the collectors were arrested, their work confiscated, and they died thinking the music was lost to history.

On stage:

Yiddish Glory features an elite ensemble comprising world class musicians and led by

Psoy Korolenko: Singer-songwriter
Loyko: The world-renowned Gypsy trio from St. Petersburg, Russia, led by virtuoso violinist Sergei Erdenko with Artur Gorbenko (violin) and Mikhail Savichev (guitar)
Sasha Lurje: vocalist (Yiddish singer from Latvia)
Julian Milkis: Widely considered among the world’s greatest living clarinetists
David Buchbinder: Juno Award-winning Trumpetist
Sergiu Popa: Virtuoso Roma Accordionist
Beth Silver: Multiple Award-winning Cellist
Isaac Rosenberg – Vocals
Anna Shternshis – Historian and Researcher (Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Toronto)

All pictures: flic.kr/s/aHskHhVtWJ

Anima Allegra

March 10, 2018 (City Playhouse Theatre, Toronto)

Anima Allegra is a truly unique performance of a new wave in Russian clowning tradition. The synthesis of pantomime, clowning, dance and circus acts, Anima Allegra is performed by the best clown-mimes of St. Petersburg. Featuring performers from St. Petersburg Litsedei and Cirque de Soleil, Anima Allegra brings together both the traditional European clowning method and a new vibrant physical performance style.

All pictures: flic.kr/s/aHsmeAguav

Drum TAO

Drum Heart
February 3, 2018 (Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto)

The Nippon Entertament (North American Tour 2018)

DRUM TAO established in 1993, with the dream of creating the best show in the word using "Wadaiko (Japanese Drums)"

Performers: Taro Harasaki, Hiroyasu Yanaka, Kiyoko Aito, Junici Haraguchi, Yasuaki Yamaguchi, Shohei Nakata, Hiroyasu Ikegoshi, Keisuke Yamamoto, Masanory Takayama, Kodai Hiwano, Tatsunori Yamaguchi, Soshiro Fukumizu, Shoya Hamada, Ryudai Ko, Shoko Sakaguchi, Ayumu Hisanaga, Daisuke Iwama.

All pictures: flic.kr/s/aHskw1Wax1

Cirque Du Soleil – Luzia

Grand Chapiteau at Portlands, Toronto, Ontario. October 15, 2016.

More pictures are here

Tamara Gverdtsiteli

An Evening with Tamara Gverdtsiteli
“Mamele, The Mother’s Eyes”
with Moscow Male Jewish Cappella (Maestro Alexander Tsaliuk) and “Sinfonia Toronto” chamber orchestra.

Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto (June 3, 2016)

All pictures: flic.kr/s/aHskBUVPfH

Allegro School of Dance – 2016

All pictures: flic.kr/s/aHskw9Sd4W