CMC Presents : Star Songs

Imagine Chalmers House turned into a black-box theatre! In this concert Catharin and Hoi Tong will explore the intersection of music and theatre in a dramatic re-presentation of the recital. Hoi Tong, alongside Köng Duo member Beavis Ng, present their "percussion theatre" works that transform their percussion instruments into props, cartoon backgrounds, and even characters themselves! Paired with Catharin's exploration of songs about the stars from the CMC's own catalog. Catharin's dramatic interpretations of the Art Song repertoire bring these songs to life into something beyond the standard recital.

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Mezzo soprano Catharin Carew (she/they) is equally at home on both the operatic and concert stage, having performed a wide range of classical repertoire, from Baroque to Contemporary.

She has been described as "a real personality with a dark edge to her mezzo as well as clear top notes" (WhatsOnStage, UK) as well as "exhilarating" (Opera Canada). Career highlights include premiering the role of Maeve in Ana Sokolovic's The Midnight Court at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden with Queen of Puddings Music Theatre, performing Mrs. Grose in the Aldeburgh production of The Turn of the Screw, singing in Tapestry New Opera Works' Queers Crash the Opera and working with Powerhouse Opera in 2022, singing the role of Klytaminestra in their production of Elektra. Catharin has sung 26 of Bach’s cantatas as a soloist through the Bach Vespers series at the Church of the Redeemer.

Recent performances by Catharin include premiering the role of Demeter in Elizabeth Raum's new opera Romance of the Gods with Orchestra Toronto, participating in a workshop presentation of Afarin Mansouri's opera The Refugees at the new Tapestry Studios, making her debut as Brangäne in Powerhouse Opera's production of Tristan und Isolde, appearing as the mezzo soloist in the Canadian premiere of Robert Cohen's oratorio Alzheimer Stories with Pax Christi Chorale in Toronto and again with Chor Amica in London and performing the title role in Mascagni's opera Zanetto with Grand River Opera in Kitchener-Waterloo.

This August Catharin will be performing as part of the Ukranian Art Song Project's Summer Institute and in the September looks forward to singing the role of Říhová in Dvořák's opera Tvrdé palice with the Canadian Institute for Czech Music.

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Hong Kong-raised percussionist Hoi Tong Keung believes in the power of music in connecting people. As a contemporary music advocate, she has attended Darmstadt Summer Course (Germany) and soundSCAPE festival (online), collaborating with composers and premiering their works. Her performance and research interests lie on the interplay between modes of expression, be it Eastern and Western music, acoustic and electronic instruments, or music and speech. Among which, Hoi Tong’s doctoral research focuses on incorporating spoken Cantonese into percussion music. One of the commissioned works for her research-creation project is One Dollar for One Turtle by Ehwa Hong (France/Korea), which was premiered at Festival POTE in Besançon, France.

Hoi Tong co-founded KöNG Duo with percussionist Bevis Ng. In 2022, they curated their début set “good morning, hong kong” during their residency at Banff Centre. Since then, they have performed locally at Music TORONTO’s Celebration of Small Ensembles series and internationally at the New Music Gathering in the U.S.A.. Besides discovering under-performed gems, they collaborate with emerging composers and have premiered over 15 works. The Duo won First Prize at the 2023 Southern California Marimba International Artist Competition and was named Young Artistic Associates of Confluence Concerts in the 2023–2024 season. KöNG Duo proudly endorses Marimba One instruments.

Hoi Tong is a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto under the guidance of Aiyun Huang and Beverley Johnston. She holds degrees from Boston Conservatory at Berklee and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

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