Music News

TORONTO - The first and last time the Judith oratorio was heard by an audience was in 1888 in Birmingham, England. It was written by one of Britain’s best-loved composers of the time, Hubert Parry, and was well-received by the critics of the era. But then the work fell into obscurity.

Steve Bell was ready to face the music: his decade-long career as a nightclub musician was over.

NAIROBI, Kenya - Some church leaders are criticizing a British musicians’ charity group raising funds for the West African Ebola crisis, saying its new single reinforces negative stereotypes of Africa.

TORONTO - St. Michael’s Choir School brings Christmas, real Christmas, in six-part polyphony, to Toronto’s Massey Hall for the 49th time this Dec. 6 and 7. But if you haven’t managed to buy a $20 to $50 ticket yet, you could head down to Shuter Street and look for a scalper.

TORONTO - Fans of the fancy fiddle work of Ontario’s very own Donnell Leahy will have three chances to see the Lakefield native perform in Toronto this holiday season.

TORONTO - Even after performing Handel’s Messiah with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for almost four decades, Patricia Krueger says the music from this Christmas classic never gets old.

ROME - Italy’s singing nun Sr. Cristina Scuccia, who became a global sensation after winning a TV reality show, has chosen Madonna’s controversial hit “Like a Virgin” as the first single from her debut album. 

TORONTO - Armless guitarist Tony Melendez wants audiences to walk away from his performances with hope.

Under blue skies, dressed in black, stand the members of Christian band Darkness Divided. In the serenity of a forest clearing, the band members’ hands are stretched straight up, revealing streams of thick, dark blood pouring from wounds artificially created on their open palms. In the background, lyrics suggestive of Christ’s crucifixion are belted out supported by the severe guitar and drum sounds typical of a metalcore band. This is a scene from “The Hands that Bled,” a single off the band’s newly released album, Written in Blood.

ISTANBUL - Turkey’s religious authorities have given the go-ahead for the country’s controversial “Rockin’ Imam” to keep on rocking.