The Topaz Duo (Kaili Maimets, flute; Angela Schwarzkopf, harp)
TRACKS
lumena – Riho Esko Maimets
Little Feng Huang – Kevin Lau
I. Nyx
II. Winter is a World of White
III. Elegy
IV. Phoenix Rising
Sonata for flute and harp Op. 56 – Lowell Liebermann
Sonata for harp and flute – Marjan Mozetich
I. moderato
II. lullaby
III. rondo
CREDITS
Produced by The Topaz Duo
Recorded by Peter Gemmell
Mixed & Mastered by Peter Gemmell
Design & Layout by Richard Boudreau
Cover Art by Taavo Tombak
This project is funded in by The Ontario Arts Council, FACTOR, the Government of Canada and Canada’s private radio broadcasters. Ce projet est financé en partie par Ontario Arts Council, FACTOR, le gouvernement du Canada et les radiodiffuseurs privés du Canada.
TK518 © 2022 Redshift Music
THE TOPAZ DUO
Angela and Kaili have been performing together as a duo for over 12 years. Their goal is to champion repertoire by living composers in two ways: by focusing on bringing new interpretations to under-represented works, and by commissioning new works with an emphasis on Canadian content. thetopazduo.ca
JUNO award-winning harpist Angela Schwarzkopf concertizes throughout North America as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral harpist. The first harpist to receive a Doctorate of Music in harp performance in Canada, she now teaches at a number of esteemed institutions and performs with top ensembles nationwide. Favorite performances include Raga by Caroline Lizotte with harp legend Judy Loman, Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra with the National Art Centre Orchestra of Canada for their 50th Anniversary, and the double harp concerto The Passion of Angels by Canadian composer Marjan Mozetich with fellow harpist Erica Goodman and the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. Angela works regularly with many top orchestral organizations including the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and at the Stratford Festival, among others. She is currently the principal harpist of London Symphonia.
As an advocate for new music, Angela has worked on commissioning projects with many prominent composers. Her debut album, detach, of all Canadian new music won a 2020 JUNO award for Classical Album of the Year: Solo or Chamber, and is regularly played on CBC radio. She has received grants from the American Harp Society for commissioning new works and a grant from the Ontario Arts Council for her recording project. Her collaboration with the Caution Tape Sound Collective in 2016 and the Toy Piano Composers in 2014 yielded three new harp solos and five new chamber works for harp. In 2021 she gave a presentation to the Canadian League of Composers on writing for harp. Angela continues to actively support Canadian new music through ongoing commissions and collaborations.
Angela is a sessional instructor at the University of Toronto, the Glenn Gould School of Music, and at McMaster University, and maintains a thriving studio of private students in Toronto. During the summer she is on faculty at the internationally renowned Young Artist’s Harp Seminar in the US. Angela has given masterclasses and presentations at several institutions including the University of Arizona and Sam Houston State University. As a juror, she has adjudicated for recitals, juries, chamber music, orchestral exams, and auditions of all kinds for institutions such as the National Arts Centre Orchestra Bursary Competition, the Kiwanis Music Festival, the University of Toronto, the Glenn Gould School, and at the Young Artist’s Harp Seminar Competition. She is also a member of the Royal Conservatory College of Examiners.
A frequent contributor to the international publication Harp Column, Angela also serves on the editorial board of The American Harp Journal and an extract of her doctoral dissertation was published in the 2016 summer edition of the latter. During the summer of 2016 Angela presented her research at the American Harp Society National Conference in Atlanta. In 2019 she was invited to perform and speak on a panel at the American Harp Society Summer Institute. After serving as President of the Toronto Chapter of the American Harp Society from 2012-2018, she now serves as Second Vice President and Director at Large for the American Harp Society. Angela Schwarzkopf received a Bachelor of Music in harp performance from the University of Ottawa in 2007; a Master of Music in harp performance from the University of Toronto in 2009; and a Doctorate of Music in harp performance from the University of Toronto in 2015.
Flutist Kaili Maimets is in demand as an orchestral performer, chamber musician, and soloist. She regularly performs with theNational Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada (NACO) where she was Acting Second Flute and Piccolo from 2017 to 2020. She held the Second Flute & Piccolo position of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony from 2016-2018 and prior to that was Principal Flute of London Symphonia (formerly Orchestra London) for four seasons. She has also performed as Acting Principal Flute with the National Ballet of Canada and has substituted with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Albums that Kaili has performed second flute and piccolo include NACO’s Bounds of Our Dreams and Life Reflected.
As a soloist, Kaili performed the Vivaldi Piccolo Concerto in C in November 2018 with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and also featured as soloist at the NACO Family Adventures concerts in Ottawa. In 2017 she toured Southern Ontario performing Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto with the Toronto Concert Orchestra. As Principal Flute of Orchestra London she performed Mozart’s Flute Concerto in D, Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto no. 4 and Frank Martin’s Concerto for Seven Winds. Kaili has commissioned a flute and harp concerto by Riho Esko Maimets to be premiered with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony in the spring of 2023.
As a chamber musician, Kaili has recently performed with 2021 JUNO winners cellist Rachel Mercer and Angela Park in concert series in Barrie, Coburg, and Hamilton. During her three years with NACO, Kaili toured across Canada and Europe, giving chamber concerts and masterclasses along with fellow NACO musicians.
Kaili is also passionate about performing new music. She has performed a number of times at NACO’s contemporary music series WolfGANG Sessions in Ottawa, Vancouver, and Stockholm. She has also performed with Continuum New Music Ensemble in Toronto and Montreal.
Kaili’s principal teachers have been Nora Shulman, Denis Bluteau, and Camille Watts. She has a Master of Music in Orchestral Performance from McGill University, a Bachelor of Music from University of Toronto, and A.R.C.T. from the Royal Conservatory of Music of Canada from whom she received the Gold Medal for Woodwinds in 2007. Kaili is grateful for her orchestral and chamber training experiences with National Youth Orchestra of Canada, National Academy Orchestra of Canada, Youth Orchestra of the Americas, Banff Festival Orchestra, Scotia Festival of Music, and Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra.
In addition to being a part-time professor of flute and piccolo at the University of Ottawa, Kaili maintains a private studio in Toronto. Her students have been accepted to the prestigious Curtis Institute Young Artist Summer Program, music programs at McGill University and Wilfrid Laurier University, and play with many local youth ensembles. Her students have consistently been winners of provincial music festivals, and at local levels in North York, Toronto, Stratford, and London (Ontario). Her students have also been medal winners in the Royal Conservatory examinations, and finalists at the Canadian Music Competition.
Kaili was inspired to learn the flute after being taken to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Children’s Saturday morning cushion concerts. She then began her studies with Professor of Flute, Peg Albrecht, whose creativity and passion inspired her to pursue music professionally.
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