Music Notes

Anton and Julian Kuerti take a bow with the Boston Pops.

The 70-year-old father is a world renowned classical pianist, the 32-year-old son one of the world’s top up and coming conductors, currently serving as associate conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Their last performance together, in March 2008, has grown into almost legendary status.
Anton Kuerti – who has lived in the same house for 40 years within walking distance of Jarvis Collegiate Institute, where his son graduated from – was in Boston specifically to watch his son Julian Kuerti make his conducting debut for the Boston Symphony.

But as fate would have it, guest pianist Leon Fleisher who was to play Beethoven’s Emperor Piano Concerto had to bow out because of food poisoning.

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The Annex-based Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) is respected nation-wide and even world-wide for their lessons and examinations, but if they keep up their current pace, they might become equally associated with the Grammy Awards.

For the second year in a row, the venerable Annex-based institution at 273 Bloor Street West is celebrating a Grammy nomination.

A group of musicians based out of the RCM, called Artists of the Royal Conservatory of Music (ARC), nabbed a Grammy nomination in the category of Best Chamber Music Performance for their recording called Right Through the Bone.

In addition, the producer of that recording, David Frost, a well known American classical music producer, is nominated in the category of classical producer of the year.

It’s becoming old hat for ARC who last year were also nominated in the same category (of Best Chamber Music Performance) for their recording titled On the Threshold of Hope: Chamber Music of Mieczyslaw Weinberg. Subsequently it was also nominated for a Juno Award.

Right Through the Bone will also no doubt be in consideration when this year’s Juno Award nominations are released Feb. 3.

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