Choral Scene

What is the definition of a successful musician? I thought about this last month after learning that local organist and singer Bruce Kirkpatrick Hill had passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. Word of Bruce’s passing spread very quickly throughout the Toronto choral community, and the shock that people felt had to do with his young age — he was only 49 — as well as with its suddenness. But at the funeral service, it was clear that the mixture of grief and respect that defined the event extended well beyond shock. As I walked home, I pondered why Bruce’s death — or rather, his life — had touched so many people.

Public recognition is the most obvious indication of success — a reputation draws people to attend a concert, purchase a recording, sign up for lessons. It’s usually (but not always) an indication of a standard of artistic achievement for audiences and musicians alike. Another category, less obvious but often more long-lasting, is the behind-the-scenes or just-out-of-the-spotlight professional who works steadily, but has little or no public profile. The majority of musicians fall into this group. A lot of the music that you love the most has been created by artists whose names you have never known.

A third category might be “community musician,” a term that can encompass both professionals and amateurs. A community musician can be defined as someone who loves their chosen art form, and devotes their talents and abilities to it with the best of their ability. Sometimes they are known outside their home region, but often they are not. Choral music is in great part driven by the work of talented and dedicated amateurs. This is, in part, because professional choral singing pays very badly — a subject for a future column — but just as significantly, because most choral singers are amateurs in the traditional sense of the word, lovers of the art from who have the drive to foster and maintain it.

Of course, these three categories of success intersect and divide into subsets and levels, and Bruce Kirkpatrick Hill certainly acquitted himself well in the first two areas described above. But at his funeral, and during the week leading up to it, it became clear that Bruce was a community musician of unusual success and achievement.

Some musicians seem to have a particular talent for simply being present. Without any fanfare, they make an impression, and you never forget them. Their assurance and professionalism thread through a musical community and help define that community in people’s minds. When they are gone, we feel their absence as a loss beyond their physical presence. Even for those of us who didn’t know him well, Bruce made this kind of impression. He was part of the bone and sinew of the Toronto choral scene. In a sense, his very presence seemed to evoke the solidity of the choral traditions that he loved.

Bruce’s funeral was held at the Anglican Church of St. Mary Magdalene. Every seat was full, and the rest of the overflow crowd stood at the back for the entire two hour service. When hymns were sung, the church reverberated with the sound of hundreds of trained singers falling naturally into four-part harmony. It was a choral sound unprecedented in the city, one that Bruce would have appreciated.

Ottawa conductor Matthew Larkin (leader of the Toronto-based Larkin Singers) led the St. Mary Magdalene church choir in a selection of anthems. After the final benediction, a mixture of the singers from the Exultate Choir, the church choir, and various choral colleagues and friends of Bruce’s, joined together to sing a beautiful setting of the Kontakion, a Byzantine liturgical text from the Eastern Orthordox Christian tradition, composed by Bruce’s wife, fellow choral director and composer Stephanie Martin.

If the above reads somewhat like a concert review, it is not because Bruce’s funeral was primarily an aesthetic event. Rather, it is that choral concerts are experiences rooted in community, and choral concert repertoire has its roots in these communal experiences — worship of a deity, celebration of the bounty of the earth, tribute to a beloved friend. To be a community musician within the choral tradition is to take part in an ancient activity that is as relevant and necessary to our lives now as it was hundreds, possibly thousands, of years ago.

Moving to this month’s choral lineup: at this time of year, almost every choir in the region is presenting its final concert of the season, and there are many musical choices in the coming weeks. My recommendation: make sure you go to two or more concerts — one by your favourite group, and one or more given by a group that you have not yet heard. Travel to a part of the city or region that you haven’t visited, and get to know a group that comes from that community.

Another community musician of note was Ben Shek, an expert in Yiddish culture, and one of the driving forces of the venerable Toronto Jewish Folk Choir. The TJFC will be giving a concert in honour of Ben, and other members of Toronto’s Jewish choral community, on June 3.

On the same night, the Penthelia Singers celebrate their 15th anniversary with a gala concert program of all-Canadian music, and a guest conducting appearance from Mary Legge, another great Toronto choral community musician.

The Tallis Choir performs “The Glory of the English Anthem” on May 5. This concert includes two genuine masterworks, Harris’s eight-part setting of Faire is the Hevene, and renaissance composer Thomas Tallis’s setting of the Lamentations of Jeremiah.

The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir’s final concert of the season (May 23) is a feast of choral riches: the Poulenc Gloria, Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and William Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast.

On June 9, just beyond the scope of this issue’s concert listings, Jenny Crober’s East York chorus re-christens itself the Voca Chorus of Toronto, with a performance of Paul Winter’s crowd-pleasing Missa Gaia. This work combines the sound of recorded animal voices with energetic gospel-derived music, and has been a hit since its premiere in 1982.

On May 4, the Upper Canada Choristers combine the famous Fauré Requiem with works by Venezuelan composer César Alejandro Carrillo. Interestingly, the choir has recently instituted a support program for boys with changing voices, to foster continued choral involvement for nascent baritones and tenors, and to promote to teenage boys a positive message for choral singing as an ongoing activity through adolescence and adulthood.

Ben Stein is a Toronto tenor and theorbist.  He can be contacted at choralscene@thewholenote.com. Visit his website at benjaminstein.ca.

Would you like to experience “Total Vocal Pleasure” the likes of which you have never dreamed possible? You don’t have to be able to sing “O Mio Babbino Caro” or “Nessun Dorma.” You don’t have to join a classical ensemble and participate in the execution of intricate motets, cantatas or oratorios. You don’t need to know how to tune jazz vocal harmonies like diminished ninths and sharp elevenths.

Total Vocal Pleasure may be achieved very simply, and anyone can do it. The secret: imitate Tom Waits singing “Feed the Birds” from Mary Poppins. Careful, though — this pastime is addictive, and after a few tries in the shower or the car, you will find yourself alarming people in checkout lines and buses, as you growl and croon about little birds and tuppence and saints and apostles looking down.

Why do singers move us so much? What is it about the voice that makes us respond? Why are the airwaves not filled with glamorous oboe or viola players? Well, aside from the fact that glamorous oboe and viola players do not actually exist, the voice is like no other instrument in its ability to inspire loyalty or antipathy, horror or love.

The phrase “the grain of the voice” gives us this month’s theme. It is the title of an essay by Roland Barthes, a French critic and theorist influential in academic circles and pretty much avoided everywhere else. “Grain” refers very generally to vocal timbre, but Barthes’ essay is a complex investigation into the subtle signals and hidden meanings that vocal timbre can convey.

Barthes’ ideas have been used in studies of popular music to explore the appeal of voices that are not stereotypically “beautiful,” when beautiful is understood to mean smooth and even — Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Maria Callas, Shane MacGowan, Billie Holiday and Diamanda Galas, to name a few. These are voices with edges, rough spots, potholes and speedbumps.

In a non-operatic choral context, these types of voices are almost useless — there is no way to make them blend as choral voices must, though an entire choir of singers who sound like Bob Dylan has a certain appeal. Still, many choirs experiment with vocal timbres and techniques that lie outside a traditional Western classical music aesthetic, and, eschewing traditional or popular programming choices, commission and program unexpected and unusual repertoire.

The Aradia Ensemble’s May 3 concert, “The Grain of the Voice,” (a free COC noonhour Vocal Series concert) combines motets by Monteverdi and Gesualdo (the latter responsible for some of the most macabre Italian renaissance vocal works ever written) with guest choir Darbazi, a Toronto vocal ensemble specializing in music from the Eastern European Caucasus region of Georgia. Traditional Georgian music has a tuning system and timbral aesthetic utterly at odds with what most people understand to be a standard choral sound. Aradia’s conductor, Kevin Mallon, has composed a new work that will blend these ensembles together, uniting these apparently irreconcilable musical elements. Aradia presents a full-length version of the same concert May 5 at Glenn Gould Studio.

Two upcoming music festivals also explore varied vocal techniques. Contemporary music organization NUMUS is based out of Waterloo, and is pretty consistently ignored by Toronto music critics. This is a shame, because its programming is easily the match of any Toronto new music organization. NUMUS presents the Element Choir on May 5, with “new works for improvisational choir”. This alone ought to draw an intrigued audience, because improvisation, rare in classical circles, is almost unheard of in a choral context. Read more about NUMUS at www.numus.on.ca.

NUMUS is in part the creation of composer Glen Buhr, whose works bring an agreeable touch of humour to a contemporary music scene that is often whimsy-challenged. In a more sombre mood, however, is his Ritchot Mass, which was dedicated to Canadians who lost their homes in the 1997 flood of the Red River Valley in Manitoba. Hamilton’s John Laing Singers will perform this work, and others in “Dreams and Dances” on April 28.

The other vocal festival that lovers of vocal music really should not miss this month is SING! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival at Harbourfront Centre from Friday April 13 to Sunday April 15.

This festival, curated with Harbourfront’s customarily polyvalent approach to programming, is a kind of snapshot of the diversity of vocal styles available to singers. The weekend will combine performances with workshops and masterclasses, the majority of which will be free of charge. The Canadian choirs participating are Elmer Iseler Singers, Lachan Jewish Chamber, Choir, the Allegria Choir, Darbazi and Cantores Celestes; jazz and pop vocal ensembles Countermeasure and the Nylons will be there as well. Guest groups will include the renowned Swingle Singers and the New York Voices, among others. For a schedule of the weekend’s events, see www.torontovocalarts­festival.com.

Moving beyond the column’s theme to other interesting concerts: although the phrase “arts and science” is commonly heard in university curricula, in reality these two areas are often stratified. British writer C.P. Snow coined the term “the two solitudes” in reference to the isolation that he saw between arts and science studies in both academia and general culture. His thesis, briefly, was that artists needed to understand more about science, if for no other reason than to understand the profound effect that science has had on culture in the past century.

Bridging the gap between these solitudes, at least for the duration of a concert program, is “Music of the Spheres: A Fusion of Music, Art and Science.” This April 21 concert commemorates the 20th anniversary of Canadian astronaut Roberta Bondar’s spaceflight. The concert features conductor Lydia Adams’ two principal ensembles, the Amadeus Choir and the Elmer Iseler Singers. For the occasion, Adams has composed music to a text by Bondar entitled, Light in the Darkness – The Earth Sings. Another Canadian piece on the program is Jason Jestadt’s And Yet it Moves, presumably a reference to the defiant (although likely mythical) quote from astronomer Galileo Galilei, after being forced to recant his assertion that the earth moved around the sun.

The inventive poetry of English clergyman George Herbert (1593–1633) has attracted many choral composers. Religious in theme and intent, Herbert’s work is introspective and intense, avoiding the dual traps of unreflective piety and facile celebration that often characterize sacred lyrics. Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs is one of the best known settings of Herbert’s poetry. The Larkin Singers perform this work on April 21, and conductor Matthew Larkin steps into a composer’s role with his own Herbert settings as well. The Larkin Singers, incidentally, is one of Toronto’s newer choral ensembles worth checking out — it boasts strong singers very committed to choral work, and programs interesting music.

Late composer Srul Irving Glick wrote many works for Canadian choirs, and on April 29 the Elora Festival Singers present Visions Through Darkness, a work that they commissioned from Glick in 1988. This composer had strong connections with choral ensembles, and it is good to see that his legacy continues to be fostered. For those who like to hear more of Glick’s music, a memorial concert devoted to his work will take place at Holy Blossom Temple on April 22. For information, see www.holyblossom.org.

The Pax Christi Chorale celebrates its 25th anniversary season on May 6 with a rare performance of Elgar’s The Kingdom. A choir with roots in the Canadian Mennonite choral tradition, the Pax Christi Chorale is a vital part of the local vocal scene, with solid programming and a commitment to generating new choral commissions. The Kingdom, just over a hundred years old, is a wonderful example of the grand, late romantic oratorio. The last time it was performed in Canada was over 25 years ago, and this concert is a rare opportunity to hear this work performed live.

In difficult economic times, it is tremendously important to remember that music lessons are a luxury that many families cannot afford. All over Toronto, there are musicians giving their time and expertise to help another generation foster their creativity and discipline through music. Reaching Out Through Music is an organization devoted to bringing music to the community of St. Jamestown in downtown Toronto. The choir of the Church of St. Simon-the-Apostle takes part in a fundraising concert for ROTM on April 28. Find out more at www.reachingoutthroughmusic.org.

Two other benefit concerts of note: on April 6 the Cantabile Chorale of York Region performs to raise funds for social services in York Region; April 12 the Guelph Youth Singers team up with Les Jeunes Chanteurs d’Acadie to raise money for Bracelet of Hope charity, a group that provides medical care to HIV/AIDS patients in Africa.

The Tallis Choir performs “The Glory of the English Anthem” on May 5. I will write about this concert in more detail next month.

Two final notes regarding members of the Toronto choral community: choirmaster and organist Douglas Bodle has directed, coached and inspired several generations of singers in this city. He celebrates 40 years of directorship at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church on April 27, with an archival CD launch and notable guest soloists, some of them past members of the St. Andrew’s choir.

Lastly, some tragic late-breaking news: Toronto choral director, organist and singer Bruce Kirkpatrick Hill passed away suddenly and unexpectedly as this column was going to press. Bruce was a well-known and well-loved member of Toronto’s choral scene, and our thoughts are with his family and friends. Read a tribute to Bruce on page 63.

Ben Stein is a Toronto tenor and theorbist. He can be contacted at choralscene@thewholenote.com. Visit his website at benjaminstein.ca.

It may be partially true that with age comes wisdom. But it is certainly true that with age comes the inability to remember what one went down to the basement to retrieve. Upstairs you trudge again, retracing your steps until your memory is sufficiently jogged — oh right, duct tape — and you are ready to make the frustrating second trip. Perhaps what often passes for wisdom is in fact a mellow, philosophical acceptance of how many extra journeys for duct tape (or garbage bags or whatever) age and failing memory now require.

Myself, I’m finding that with age comes immaturity. Jokes that made me sneer with contempt in my high-minded teen years now make me snicker and guffaw. I look forward to the ongoing dismantlement of my critical faculties, until seeing Bugs Bunny in drag and Wile E. Coyote repeatedly plummeting into a chasm sends me to the floor, helpless with laughter. But time, memory and the way in which both elements change perception seem to be the themes of a number of this month’s concerts.

On March 3 the Guelph Chamber Choir presents “Remember … Places, people and songs you love.” With the concert’s repertoire focussed around folk songs, spirituals, Broadway show tunes and cabaret songs, audience members will doubtless find themselves recalling specific occasions tied by memory to some specific song.

Toronto’s Bell’Arte Singers have presented a whole series of linked concerts this year (for the complete series see bellartesingers.ca) that evoke this sense of introspection. Their latest March 3 concert, “Classical: Ways of Seeing,” features music by Bach, Barber, Mozart and Brahms, among others. Treating the music almost like visual works of art, this choir asks its audience to not only listen but to ponder the question of what constitutes beauty, balance and classicism.

Another concert evoking a bygone era is the Victoria Scholars’ “The Romantic Gentleman,” on March 4. Here, the audience is reminded not to lose sight of the things that may fall by the wayside in our charge towards modernity. Comprising works by Brahms, Elgar, Gounod, Rossini, Grieg and others, this concert conjures a time of frock coats and muttonchop whiskers, of codes of honour and high-minded behaviour. The title of this concert also raises a difficult, extra-musical question: what standard defines a “romantic gentleman” in the 21st century? Is our new “RG” the man who discreetly refrains from posting on Facebook or Twitter pictures of himself passed out beside a beer bong (merely texting them instead to his closest friends)? Standards have changed, of course. But perhaps attendance at this particular concert should be mandatory for men 25 and under.

One of English literature’s most poignant evocations of the pangs of memory and the challenges of time and age is Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The playwright’s last play, it contains some of his most powerful poetry, and with lines like “in the dark backward and absym of time,” is generally thought, in part, to be a meditation on the currents and sorrows of Shakespeare’s own life. Chorus Niagara (in pan-Canadian partnership with the Richard Eaton Singers, who work out of Edmonton, and the Vancouver Bach Choir) has commissioned Canadian composer Allan Bevan to create No Mortal Business. This new work takes as its premise the idea that The Tempest (and other earlier works of Shakespeare) were indeed windows into the playwright’s preoccupation with religion, politics, aging and art. Orpheus Choir and Chorus Niagara will combine to make up a 160-voice ensemble to present the work on March 4.

Two local choirs, on the other hand, embrace and celebrate the passage of time this month. The Toronto Classical Singers, directed by their founder, Jurgen Petrenko, celebrate their 20th anniversary. I have sung on several occasions with this rambunctious and friendly group of singers, and it is a pleasure to salute them at this time. On March 4 they perform Vivaldi’s Gloria and Schubert’s Mass in G.

Tafelmusik Chamber Choir celebrates its 30th anniversary with a series of concerts from March 27 to April 1. Full disclosure: I have also sung with this ensemble and have accompanied student vocalists and instrumentalists on lute and theorbo at the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute. Setting these connections aside, I can state with confidence that TCC is one of the top choral ensembles in the city and possibly in all of Canada. This group has been part of the continuing story of the resurgence of pre-1750 music — a sprawling, international dialogue between scholars, performers and audiences that has revived and uncovered a multicultural wealth of previously forgotten composers and compositions.

The Tafelmusik Orchestra, of which the choir is an offshoot, has been a leader in this ongoing area of discovery. For these concerts, The TCC has commissioned a new piece by Canadian composer James Rolfe, and will also perform works by Purcell, Rameau, Handel, Poulenc and Saint-Saëns.

Anniversaries define the passage of time; so do annual events. Outside of the Jewish community, one of the lesser known holidays is Purim, a real children’s party centred around costumes, games and food. Purim commemorates the story of Queen Esther, one of the great mythic tales of Jewish pride and independence. The Toronto Jewish Folk Choir performs songs in Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian and English at its March 1 “Purim Concert.”

Memory is what helps define tradition — what we remember of the past shapes our present and future. Canada is a young country filled with immigrants, and for many it is the histories and art forms of our ancestral countries that often define us. At the same time, Canadian composers are hard at work creating a repertoire that they hope will help define us anew. Choirs performing concerts that include Canadian works are the Vespera Choir, March 29, the Echo Women’s Choir, March 31, and the aptly named Canadian Singers, who perform in Markham on March 4.

Finally, the choral requiem form, often valedictory in nature, is well represented this month. Fauré’s Requiem, a particularly tender and introspective setting, is performed by two different choirs: Oriana Women’s Choir on March 3 and the Church of St. Nicholas Birchcliffe, March 30. Another requiem setting by a French composer, Maurice Duruflé, can be heard from the Voices Chamber Choir on March 31. The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir performs Vaughan Williams’s Mass in G and Martin’s Mass for Double Choir on Good Friday, April 6. On the same evening the Metropolitan Festival Choir performs Bach’s Mass in B Minor, and the Georgian Bay Concert Choir performs Mozart’s Requiem in D Minor. Canadian composer Eleanor Daley’s excellent Requiem is presented by Mississauga Festival Choir on March 31.

(Venue change - Voices' 31 March concert is now being held at Church of St. Martin in-the-Fields.)

To sum up, this month’s concerts, built around memory and the passage of time, enjoin us to respect the past, so that we may better understand the present and prepare for the future. At least, I think they do. I’d better check my notes …

Ben Stein is a Toronto tenor and theorbist. He can be contacted at choralscene@thewholenote.com. Visit his website at benjaminstein.ca.