Classical Part Of World Routes Summer Festivals At Harbourfront Centre

New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Harbourfront Centre) - Returning to Harbourfront Centre this summer for its second incarnation, What is Classical? examines the definition of "classical music" from a broad range of cultural perspectives. It explores the boundaries of the genre around the world and here at home. This FREE weekend festival (Aug 6-8) does not limit itself to world-class classical music performances, however; it also features dance, film, panel discussions, workshops and family activities.

Part of Harbourfront Centre's 2010 World Routes Summer Festivals, What is Classical? focuses on the evolution of instrumentation in Canada, examining how influences from the east, the west, and everywhere in between have created new roles within the classical music genre. Instruments, including the voice, have various identities across different forms of classical music, and this weekend will explore the many ways in which instruments are reinvented when boundaries of genre, geography or culture are crossed.

Artists featured in What is Classical? come from all corners of the world as well as right here in Toronto. This will be the Canadian premiere of Italy's Orchestra Piazza Vittorio, a group made up of 16 musicians from 11 countries and three continents, speaking eight different languages, and that's just one act! Other musical offerings include Order of India recipient vocalist Vidushi Sumitra Guha (who will also lead a vocal workshop), Canadian blues fusion legend Harry Manx, and Toronto Klezmer favourites Beyond The Pale with a new take on Mozart.

This festival also features two presentations of The Labyrinth Project (one featuring the world premiere of new music by Canadian composer John Burke performed by Ensemble Vivant, and one featuring Global Classical Improvisations with the Urban Flute Ensemble), a musical and spiritual experience based on ancient ideas. Labyrinths are used worldwide as a personal practice for healing and growth, a tool for community building, an agent for global peace and a metaphor for life. The experience of walking the labyrinth to live music allows listeners an opportunity to connect on a much deeper level with both the music and themselves.

The big idea behind all programming in this year's World Routes Summer Festivals is "globalocal", or global to local, a theme programmed into each festival to bring together rich artistic traditions from around the corner to around the globe!