Features

A rare wedding of the arts – poetry, music and dance coming together in the spontaneous combustion of improvisation – is taking wing across Canada this fall, with nearly 50 performances in nine provinces (all but Prince Edward Island) and over 30 cities, stretching from early September to the middle of November. It’s called The Muted Note, and it’s a remarkable tour for a work so subtle in its refractions and spontaneous in its creativity.

The poetry of P.K. Page is one of the great accomplishments of Canadian poetry, lucid work that possesses a sense of language and the world in moments of exchange and transformation. (Page had a rare gift for expression, developing a parallel practice as a painter under the name P.K. Irwin.) Lately two young artists, composer/trombonist Scott Thomson and singer/choreographer Susanna Hood, have used other arts to extend Page’s work, interpreting it in new dimensions. As Thomson says, “Page’s poems are what the show is about. The songs and dances extend directly from the verse, and are composed and improvised in order to animate and activate it. We’re looking and listening for the connective tissue that makes poetry, song and dance one thing.”

Rooted in free jazz, Thomson and Hood began an intense exploration of the work of saxophonist Steve Lacy a few years ago. Lacy had a unique gift among jazz composers and improvisers for setting text, working with poetry from the ancient Lao Tzu to Beat Generation outliers like Bryon Gysin and Robert Creeley. Thomson – the founder and curator of Toronto’s longtime creative music performance space Somewhere There – formed a quintet with Hood and saxophonist Kyle Brenders called – both pragmatically and allusively – The Rent, specifically to explore Lacy’s work.

When I first launched “Hopera: an evening of local craft beer and song,” people assumed that this was an attempt on my part to elevate beer and make it seem more upscale by pairing it with an art form as grand as opera. This was not the case at all.

As bodies begin to fill the sea of burgundy and beige chairs in legendary Massey Hall, the excitement for tonight’s show is palpable. Daniel Lanois has the opening slot for Emmylou Harris at the end of their tour celebrating the reissue of 1995’s Wrecking Ball, for which Lanois also owns producing credit. As I watch the diverse crowd trickle in, the instrumental pre show music seeping out from surrounding speakers catches me. I think it is Lanois’ music but I can’t say for sure. That guess is put to rest as Lanois appears on stage walking with purpose and perfect timing to be seated at his pedal steel. There is a smooth transition from the speakers into a live continuation. Everyone’s focus has redirected and for the first time since I can remember, there is not one illuminated cellphone in my peripheral. This crowd is here to listen.

For the duration of the first song, Lanois hasn’t looked up once, he is in the sound, and we are all there with him. His fingers move with precision against the strings and I get lost in the story that is created by them and the sounds, reminiscent of an open vintage jewelry box. The crowd’s expectations are undoubtedly safe here; he knows what he is doing. Lanois knows music like few others and this opening set is a chance for us to be reminded that not only is he a master of shaping the sound of others but he too owns his own space as an award-winning musician and songwriter.

We’re at it again – as always this time of year, our summer issue becomes a point at which we check in with musicians from across our community who are headed “on the road” – or are staying in – for the summer months. We’ve asked local musicians of all sorts and kinds what they’re most looking forward to this summer, both as listeners and performers, and what their plans are for the 2014/15 season on the other side.

While it’s the same four questions every year, the overwhelming variety of responses we receive demonstrates just how unique each artist is, and just how far their summer travels will take them. For some insight on an array of upcoming plans – some international and some much closer to home – our publisher David Perlman sat down with TSO music director Peter Oundjian, on what he’ll be up to both on and off the podium this summer.

The Glimmerglass Festival evolved from the Glimmerglass Opera, founded in 1975 and is now the second-largest summer opera festival in the United States. Every summer the rotating repertory company mounts performances of four productions selected from grand opera, the Broadway stage and new and lesser-known compositions. In the true sense of a festival, there are special events including interesting and informative talks by composers and artists and guest speakers. There are nearby galleries and museums.  The operas are presented in the Alice Busch Opera Theatre about 13 kms north of Cooperstown. For anyone not familiar with “Glimmerglass” it is the name used by author James Fenimore Cooper, referring to Otsego Lake on which the Glimmerglass State Park is situated.

Francesca Zambello, the distinguished stage director whose work may be seen on several outstanding new releases on Blu-ray discs including Porgy and Bess from San Francisco and Don Giovanni from Covent Garden, has been the Glimmerglass’ artistic and general director since 2011. Her personality and enthusiasm illuminate every aspect of the festival.

The four offerings for 2014 are Madame Butterfly, Carousel, Ariadne auf Naxos and An American Tragedy.