Music on Film: Showcasing inspiring music docs from around the world and special guest speakers selected by The Royal Conservatory of Music.
Conceived by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, this series of films presents a multi-faceted celebration of Johann Sebastian Bach's Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello. In collaboration with artists from different disciplines, Ma uses each Bach suite as a starting point to create inspiring new works in that artist's medium.
Suite #1 - THE MUSIC GARDEN
D: Kevin McMahon | Canada | 1997 | 57 min | STC
After explaining how Bach’s first Cello Suite always conjures up images of nature, Yo-Yo Ma recruits architect Julie Moir Messervy to help him try to design a garden based on the suite—now known as Toronto's Music Garden.
Suite #2 - THE SOUND OF THE CARCERI
D: François Girard | Canada | 1997 | 55 min | STC
Combining architecture with music, Yo-Yo Ma brings Bach’s Second Suite together with the etchings of 18th century Italian architect Giovanni Battista Piranesis, creating a reverberant rendition of the composition to fit Piranesi's Carceri d'invenzione (Prisons of the Imagination).
Includes a post-screening Q&A with producer Niv Fichman and a short performance by a guest cellist, hosted by James Anagnoson, Dean of The Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School.
Tickets: $16 (Bloor members: $12, $10, Free)
Presented by The Royal Conservatory of Music and Hot Docs.