Music on Film

Following the death of Spanish musical legend Paco de Lucía in 2014, his famous guitar of his own design, "La Maestro," goes on a journey across nine countries. Flight of the Guitar follows as this instrument, as revered as the master who wielded it, travels from one famous Latin guitarist to the next, taking you on a tour of the world of Flamenco and beyond from Spain to New York to Brazil to Cuba to Mexico to Argentina. Featuring musicians Tomatito, Caetano Veloso, Carlinhos Brown, Mariza, Alejandro Sanz and Luis Salinas, this is an inspiring spiritual odyssey through the Latin music world.

Musician Kevin Laliberte will perform on his acoustic guitar and participate in a post-screening discussion with Mervon Mehta, Executive Director of The Royal Conservatory of Music's Performing Arts Division.

Every two years in Frankfurt, 24 young conductors from around the world are invited to take part in the prestigious Sir Georg Solti Conductors' Competition. They only have 20 minutes to work with an orchestra they’ve never met before and to impress an intimidating panel of judges. This documentary Follows five conductors, the 20-year-old Aziz Shokhakimov from Uzbekistan, star New Yorker Alondra de la Parra, Englishman James Lowe, Andreas Hotz from Germany and Japan’s Shizuo Z Kuwahara who conducts with his bare hands. Conduct! is a rich with drama and fascinating insight into the dynamic between conductors and orchestras.

Conductor Tania Miller will participate in a post-screening discussion with Mervon Mehta, Executive Director of The Royal Conservatory of Music's Performing Arts Division.

The ancient art of violin-making requires a life’s dedication to the craft. Or does it? Danny Houck, a self-described “nobody” in rural Ohio becomes obsessed with famous violin makers Stradivari and Guarneri and wants to follow in their footsteps. With no formal training, just the internet and the “summoning” of help from the old masters, Danny vows to replicate Guarneri’s Il Cannone, a world famous violin, for virtuoso Razvan Stoica to play at his next concert. With the clock ticking, and Danny improvising his way through the process, Strad Style is a portrait of an eccentric dreamer with an unlikely ambition.

Jonathan Crow, Toronto Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster (who plays a Guarneri similar to the one in the film), and one of his students will participate in a post-screening discussion with Mervon Mehta, Executive Director of The Royal Conservatory of Music's Performing Arts Division.

Africa’s first international music star Miriam Makeba was a brilliant musician as well as an outspoken activist. Mama Africa is a comprehensive biography that pays tribute to her incredible legacy. Forced into exile after starring in the anti-apartheid film Come Back Africa in 1959, Mekeba performed with the likes of Harry Belafonte, Nina Simone and Dizzie Gillespie and married to musician Hugh Masekela and Stokely Carmichael, a radical Black Panther. Director Mika Kaurismaki draws from rare archive footage of over 50 years of performances and candid scenes as well as new interviews with friends and family in this inspiring portrait.

In a bid to save their beloved Apollo Theatre, musician-conductor Mario Tranco and documentarian Agostino Ferrente come up with a plan to put together an orchestra entirely made up of immigrants. With escalating tension around immigration in Italy, where foreigners are not easily welcomed, Tranco and Ferrente make a political statement. We follow their five-year journey to assemble a group in Rome until it comes together in beautiful harmony. The Orchestra of Piazza Vittorio has gone on to record several albums and go on major tours. See how this unlikely group got started in this rousing documentary.

Members of the New Canadian Global Music Orchestra will participate in a post-screening discussion with Mervon Mehta, Executive Director of The Royal Conservatory of Music's Performing Arts Division.

Once a beacon of musical culture in Pakistan, Lahore was a city that brought together the best in artists and musicians. Now divided by social and religious upheaval, it is a place tragically disconnected from its musical roots. In 2004, Izzat Majeed founded Sachal Studios to create a new space for traditional music. An experimental album fusing jazz and South Asian instruments all of a sudden garners international acclaim and Wynton Marsalis invites the group to perform at the Lincoln Center in New York. Song of Lahore is a testament to the human ability to create under oppression.

Sitar master Anwar Kurshid, saxophonist Luiz Deniz, and percussionist Matias Recharte will participate in a post-screening discussion with Mervon Mehta, Executive Director of The Royal Conservatory of Music's Performing Arts Division.