University Settlement House, Toronto’s first community-based social service centre, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. And to mark the occasion, Toronto’s premier piano duo, James Anagnoson and Leslie Kinton, will play a special benefit concert at the Glenn Gould Studio on April 18.

The concert is a fitting tribute to an institution that’s long held music as one of its core values. But University Settlement is much more than a music school in the conventional sense. And there’s a unique story behind every musician who passes through its doors.

A shy teenage boy lives with his mother in Ontario Housing in the Grange neighborhood. His mother recognizes his special gift for musical expression and takes him to University Settlement for lessons. He qualifies for a subsidy and excels in his studies. He later goes on to study at a prestigious professional school at a renowned conservatory of music.

A neighbour donates a piano to the USH Music & Arts School. The director finds a good home for it with a young piano student who is a recent immigrant. Having a piano in her home makes the world of difference to her studies. Other new immigrants improve their English skills and meet new friends by joining a choir at USH.

A man in his 50s is injured on the job and finds himself unemployed. For him, music serves not only as his recreation but is highly therapeutic as well. USH allows him the use of a piano studio, free of charge.

A single mother is enrolled at university to earn a degree and better her employment prospects. A musician herself, she knows very well the value of the arts in a child’s development. As lessons for her children at a mainstream conservatory are more than she can afford, she is advised by a friend to check out the Music School at University Settlement House. The school director invites her to apply for a subsidy. For the next couple of years, the children receive lessons at a reduced rate. Watching her own and many other children grow through their studies at the school, she is inspired to volunteer on the music committee, and once employed full time, starts to pay full fees for her children’s lessons. Many years later, she still remembers USH Music and Arts School in her annual giving.

At its inner-city location near the Grange, halfway between Dundas and Queen St. W., University Settlement employs a staff of approximately 150, who provide day care, settlement services, employment counseling, senior services, youth programming and English language classes.

USH established its Music and Arts School in 1921, and since that time has demonstrated its vision that the arts should be a right, not a privilege – and that lessons and classes should be available to everyone, regardless of age, ethnicity, perceived talent, disability or ability to pay. Despite providing affordable programmes, the school hires highly qualified, university-trained teachers (often at the graduate level) who are deeply committed to creating community and encouraging a welcoming, family atmosphere in the school. They strive to create a high level of self-esteem and confidence in their students, encouraging excellence and rewarding progress.

According to Anne Yardley, the director of the music school, the major day-to-day challenge she faces is in meeting the needs of all the people on low income who request a subsidy. Though the regular rates for lessons are lower than most everywhere else in the city, there are many students who still need to be subsidized.

As the agency approached its 100th birthday, the staff and board of directors decided that the fundraising priority for 2010 would be to raise money for its subsidy programme. Anagnoson and Kinton generously offered to play a benefit concert to support that goal. In addition to an active performance schedule, Anagnoson serves as dean of the Glenn Gould School at the Royal Conservatory of Music, and Kinton is a faculty member at both the Glenn Gould School and the University of Western Ontario.

James Anagnoson kindly took time out of his busy schedule to speak with me.

How did you come to choose Settlement House as the beneficiary of this concert?

I was already aware of University Settlement House because a couple of my own students have taught there. We were approached by my friend Aasta Levene who serves on the board and the Music Advisory Committee at USH. She told me about the 100th-year celebration and the need for a special event to kick off the celebrations.

As musicians, you have the ability to inspire people and raise awareness of those who support the community. Has there been anyone in your life who has inspired you to want to give back in this way?

My teacher, Eugene List who I studied with in New York, was not only a brilliant pianist and mentor, he also gave so much to his students – he even let me live in his house. You know, I never really think of this type of benefit as “giving back”: we just feel so privileged in regards to where our careers have taken us and we are so lucky to be able to do something like this.

As a music educator yourself, do any remarkable examples come to mind of how the study of music benefits a young person’s quality of life?

I have had the opportunity to teach a wide variety of students, from volunteering in a Boston School when I was 18 to teaching students at the professional level. I often receive letters from former students who are now settled in other professions, who write of how the study of music has impacted their lives. I also see it firsthand with my 12-year old son. It uplifts your life.

With touring, we’ve taken our two pianos into many remote nooks and crannies: Duncan, BC, even Saturna Island, and have performed for people who would never otherwise get the chance to hear Rachmaninoff played live. To witness the effect of that is astounding.

I understand you’re performing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for this concert, which you previously recorded and have performed many times. What inspires you about this piece? Does it bring back any special memories for you?

The two-piano version is Gershwin’s original (not the orchestral score as many people believe) and we’ve had many memorable experiences playing this version of Rhapsody in Blue. For example, I remember many years ago in Bellingham when we performed it at a showcase where there was a strictly set time-limit. And right before the last two pages, the house went black! We continued of course, we were playing from memory anyway, but you can imagine the shock for us and for the audience!

Another time we played it for Bargemusic in New York. They even managed to get a second nine-foot piano on board the barge. The backdrop for this concert was a large glass window looking right across at Manhattan and you can imagine the thrill of, not only the spectacular view, but actually passing by the old site of Aeolian Hall where it all began. For so many years, Gershwin was considered a second-tier composer, and it’s wonderful that now his works are getting the attention they deserve.

What else is on the programme?

We’ll be performing Anton Arensky’s Suite No.1 which we were privileged to play last year on our Russian Tour in the very same hall where Arensky taught. They had spent millions on the restoration of this 150+ year old building – an incredible experience. And the Russians, when they love you, they love you.

Similarly, we’ll include selections from Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances for one piano, four hands. We were able to play Dvořák in Prague two or three years ago, and Leslie [Kinton] is an expert on Dvořák. We’ll also perform Johannes Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Haydn. It’s interesting that Brahms tore up the sketches of almost every one of his works, but spared this one. We never get tired of this piece.

What’s coming up for the duo and what are you most looking forward to in the next year?

The Festival of the Sound, July in Parry Sound with a programme that includes Dvořák and Rachmaninoff, the Toronto Summer Music Festival at Walter Hall with Rachmaninoff’s Suite No. 2 and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring in the composer’s original four-hand version. Also, in June we look forward to participating in a workshop of Raymond Luedeke’s Into the Labyrinth at Symphony Space in New York.

How do you balance it all: performing, touring, recording, teaching?

It can get a little much, especially since we don’t get to see much of the countries we’re travelling to. I remember coming back from China in 2006 – two-and-a-half weeks, 16 hour trip home, it all goes by too quickly. Still, we had such a great experience with masterclasses, performing, etc. With over 30 years as players and teachers, the benefit of how the two professions fit so well together and feed each other is phenomenal. We feel so grateful.

Diane Wells can be contacted through editorial@thewholenote.com.

The Anagnoson and Kinton Benefit Concert for University Settlement House will take place Sunday April 18 at 2pm at the Glenn Gould Studio, 250 Front St. W. Tickets are available at the Roy Thomson Hall box office, by phone at 416-872-4255 or online at www.roythomson.com. Anagnoson and Kinton also perform on April 24 in Caledon, presented by Caledon Chamber Concerts. See daily listings for details.