The Church of St. Mary Magdalene is one of Toronto’s hidden gems, a bastion of Anglo-Catholicism tucked away in the Annex near Bathurst and Harbord streets. A strikingly attractive yet plain building, St. Mary Magdalene’s barren white walls, abundance of natural light, pervasive scent of incense and extraordinary acoustic give this church an atmosphere unlike any other. The building itself has remained largely unchanged over the decades, a physical link to the past preserved along with the rites and rituals contained therein, and a testament to the rich heritage of this unique space.

One of the pivotal figures in the history of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene is Healey Willan, the ‘Dean of Canadian Composers’, who served as Precentor (director of music) from 1921 until his death in 1968. Over this span of almost 50 years, Willan wrote a tremendous amount of choral music for use in the church’s services, as well as concert works –  including organ music, a piano concerto, two operas, and numerous large-scale choral pieces – all while raising the standard of local choral and organ performance to a previously-unheard level. In the years since Willan’s death, his legacy has provided a source of guidance and inspiration for those who assume the director of music role at the church. The tradition of performing unaccompanied choral repertoire, established during Willan’s tenure through equal parts practicality and preference, is upheld to this day and is a unique facet of St. Mary Magdalene’s weekly musical offerings.

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Healey Willan and in celebration of his immeasurable contributions to the development of music, not only at St. Mary Magdalene’s but also across Canada, on February 16 the choirs of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene and St. Thomas’s Huron Street presented “Willan 50,” a joint concert featuring the best of Willan’s choral and organ music. The program was immense: three monumental organ works, including the legendary Introduction, Passacaglia, and Fugue; accompanied and unaccompanied choral works including Behold, the Tabernacle and Gloria Deo per immensa saecula; as well as plainchant selections, an Introit and Gradual. Distributed throughout the concert, the plainchant excerpts were particularly intelligent programming, the monophony providing a welcome change in timbre and texture from the contrapuntal complexity that is so prevalent in Willan’s work as well as demonstrating one of Willan’s favourite genres and chief musical influences.

This intensive focus on Willan’s choral and organ music worked well, in large part due to a well-crafted and balanced program that provided wonderful opportunities to hear superb singing from the massed choir as well as the lush tones of St. Mary Magdalene’s fine Breckels & Matthews pipe organ. The choir, led by St. Thomas’s director of music Matthew Larkin, was in fine form, realizing Willan’s dual natures in a sensitive and sympathetic way: the moments of complex and cerebral counterpoint were clear but never academic, while the more emotive moments (Willan was an enthusiastic proponent of Wagnerian chromaticism at times) were never overdone or superfluously sappy.

The Breckels & Matthews organ, located in the choir loft at St. Mary Magdalene’s, is the same instrument Willan himself played and improvised upon, a thread connecting the present and future of the church with its past. After some much-needed renovation and repair, the organ is in wonderful condition and sounds marvelous, its rich and well-balanced tone combining with the acoustic to produce a sound that is robust and full but never too loud, strident, or overpowering. Organists Andrew Adair, Matthew Larkin and Simon Walker each handled the instrument very well, extracting its best features in their readings of Willan’s most fiendishly difficult compositions. The use of a camera and screen to relay the performer’s physical movements from the out-of-sight gallery was undoubtedly informative and entertaining for many in the audience.

A delightful retrospective of one of Canada’s revered and renowned musical characters, “Willan 50” was a fulfilling and encouraging concert. The performances from the chorus and organists were excellent, and it was inspiring to see the talent and enthusiasm for and within Toronto’s Anglo-Catholic tradition. While the Dean of Canadian Composers is no longer with us in person, his legacy lives on through events such as these, as well as through the weekly offerings of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene and its fellow institutions.

“Willan 50” was presented on February 26, at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Toronto.

Matthew Whitfield is a Toronto-based harpsichordist and organist.

The new Canadian company of Come From Away officially opened its run at the Royal Alexandra Theatre on February 18, to cheers and an immediate, complete, and vociferous standing ovation. It rarely happens that a show coming into town with such high praise and raves from everywhere (including here in the fall of 2016) can meet the resulting high expectations. This show does and then some.

Come From Away is such an inspiring and intoxicating mix of music, story, character, direction, choreography and design that it seems to be an inevitable smash hit, so perfectly do all the elements interweave and mesh together. Add to that the fact that the story is Canadian, and true, and that it highlights the joys of generosity and compassion at a time of international tragedy, and the result is unbeatable. That is not to say that the darker and sadder aspects of the story are avoided – not at all. Rather, they are there in full force, which only makes the world onstage more complete and the joys and laughter that much more potent.

How has this phenomenon come to be? Many probably know by now that Come From Away is created from and based on the true story from 9/11 when 38 planes were forced to land at the airport in Gander, Newfoundland. The people of Gander opened their homes and hearts to the 7000 – 7000! – stranded passengers from around the world for five days, finding that by the last day – as the Mayor of Gander said from the stage of the Royal Alex today – they were saying goodbye to friends who felt like family.

The genius of the writing of the book and music is that it takes us there and puts us into the shoes of both the inhabitants of Gander and those unexpectedly stranded in this isolated place with at first no idea of why or for how long. From the opening song “Welcome to the Rock,”  where we are introduced to the people of Gander and Newfoundland on the morning of 9/11, to “38 Planes,” as the events of the day unfold, to “Blankets and Bedding,” as the community rallies and everyone jumps in to help, we are swept along through the course of five days, words and music encompassing individual stories and the increasingly intersecting lives of hosts and guests. Brilliantly, the story does not end as the planes take off again, but takes us powerfully through the return of some of the passengers to New York and the renewed realization of tragedy, but also to a new sense of gratitude for the incredible interlude experienced on the edge of Newfoundland – and then to a reunion of Newfoundlanders and “Come From Aways,” 10 years later in Gander.

The journey we are taken on is rich and satisfying, buoyed on a tide of Celtic-based music, and yet the design and direction is deceptively simple – just two tables and 12 chairs on a revolve and 12 actors playing about 36 different characters, changing dialect and origin so swiftly and deftly that there is never any question of not believing wholly in who they are at any given moment. Christopher Ashley rightfully won the Best Director Tony Award for the Broadway production last spring.

This almost-all-Canadian cast is superb. I didn’t get to see the original production (like many, I couldn’t get a ticket) but I can’t imagine anyone being better than this group, and the accents to my critical ear sound completely authentic. Every character is essential, though three are the main anchors of the story: George Masswohl, with his strong, jovial presence, is at the centre as the Mayor of Gander; Lisa Horner exudes a welcoming warmth and electricity onstage as teacher Beulah, one of the leaders of the response team; and Eliza Jane Scott impresses with the authority and depth of feeling she gives American Airlines pilot Captain Beverley.

Everyone in the company impresses with their vocal and acting strength and versatility: Ali Momen switching from the rather unsympathetic half of gay couple Kevin and Kevin, to sympathetic Egyptian master chef Ali; Kevin Vidal as a New Yorker who goes through a real arc of discovery while in Gander (as well as playing the romantic airline pilot), Kristen Pierce as Bonnie of the SPCA, garnering our sympathy and laughs through her concern for the plight of the animals aboard the planes; Sacha Dennis with her heartbreaking song “I am Here”; Cory O’Brien as genial constable Oz; and Barbara Fulton as Diane, who unexpectedly finds romance.

So real do all the characters seem that it is a shock to walk outside the theatre and find oneself no longer in Gander. At the end of the opening performance we did have the added treat, though, of meeting the real people on whom the characters were based, as they joined the cast onstage. Performances continue through October at the Royal Alexandra Theatre.

Mirvish’s production of Come From Away, directed by Christopher Ashley (with book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein), runs from February 18 to October 21 at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto.

Toronto-based “lifelong theatre person” Jennifer (Jenny) Parr works as a director, fight director, stage manager and coach, and is equally crazy about movies and musicals.

“Almost Unplugged,” Soundstreams’ latest Ear Candy concert on February 1 at the Buddies in Bad Times Theatre Cabaret, was an experience in contrasts. Two very different violinists –  Andréa Tyniec and Jesse Zubot – took the stage to present their own mini-concerts, then came together at the end in a structured improvisation.

First up was Andréa Tyniec, a passionate performer raised in Montreal and currently pursuing an international career both as a soloist and a collaborator in dance and theatre. Her set featured two works by Canadian composers – Love Song for MAD by Terri Hron and Stand Still by Michael Oesterle – and began with a 1923 composition by Eugène Ysaÿe, a Belgian violinist, composer and conductor who was regarded as “the King of the Violin” in his day. Tyniec performed the Prelude of his Sonata No. 2 with agility and virtuosity, moving around the sixteenth-note passages with ease. Direct quotations from one of Bach’s partitas appeared throughout. Tyniec is one of the fortunate violinists in Canada to be loaned a violin from the Musical Instrument Bank of the Canada Council for the Arts, so we were treated to sounds played on the 1689 Baumgartner Stradivari violin.

The Ysaÿe composition ended up serving as a link to Hron’s 2013 composition, created in collaboration with Tyniec. Hron asked Tyniec to record something so she would have the violin sound in her ear as she composed, and Ysaÿe’s composition was the one chosen.  Hron states that the piece became a key element in her compositional decision-making. Love Song for MAD is part of Hron’s Sharp Splinter cycle, a project dedicated to an exploration of her family archive of letters, audio cassettes and films. These were documents made by her parents and grandparents, particularly during the time they were separated by the Iron Curtain. The four-movement composition is scored for audio playback and solo violin and features the sound of a typewriter along with excerpts of conversations between her sister Madelaine Hron and their parents. Tyniec’s solo performance ended with Oesterle’s four-movement Stand Still (2011), which was full of fast rhythmical and repetitive patterns that created intense pulsations of sound.

Jesse Zubot and his violin have an intense connection, and are like an extension of one another. Added to that mix was a series of foot pedals controlling an array of effects that Zubot danced his way around. The end result was something akin to “violin-plus-plus” – and that’s not a criticism at all. In fact, the sonic world that Zubot created was mesmerizing and fascinating – an endlessly-changing kaleidoscope of colour, with the violin sound almost fading into the background at times. Having only heard him live as a member of Tanya Tagaq’s band, this gave me a chance to listen with focused attention for each new twist and turn of his imagination as he navigated his way through one seamless improvisation that never wandered. At several points he moved his bow so rapidly across the strings that the bow became a blur, creating a fluttering sound somewhat like the movement of a hummingbird’s wings.

Zubot grew up studying classical music but has diversified over the years to explore multiple forms. He produced Tagaq’s Polaris Prize-winning Animism album and her 2016 shortlisted follow-up Retribution. Improvisation is his great love and passion, which was so evident onstage. The concert ended with a structured improvisation that Zubot created for himself and Tyniec to play, titled Collab. Just before they began, Zubot quipped that he hoped he didn’t get lost in one of the sections; however, to my ears, everything flowed with ease as they moved between scored material, at times in unison, and improvisational material. It was a most satisfying way to end the evening, with two extraordinary and distinctive violinists coming together to create a flurry of acoustic sound on two unplugged violins.

Soundstreams presented “Almost Unplugged,” featuring violinists Andréa Tyniec and Jesse Zubot, on February 1 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Toronto.

Wendalyn Bartley is a Toronto-based composer and electro-vocal sound artist. sounddreaming@gmail.com.

On Friday, January 26, singers Chelsey Bennett and Joanna Majoko performed with their respective bands as part of Burdock’s Piano Fest, now in its third year. The premise of Piano Fest – procure a high-quality grand piano for the week, book piano-centric acts in complementary double bills – is fairly simple, but it has provided a welcome outlet for musicians during a month, following the eggnog-soaked fever dream of December, that is typically light on festival programming. It has also, judging by the packed house on the 26th, become a prime destination for live-music patrons, although the credit must, of course, be shared with Bennett and Majoko, both of whom perform regularly in Toronto and beyond.

Bennett – who is also a pianist, and played on the baby grand for the duration of her set – performed first, joined by keyboardist Darryl Joseph-Dennie, bassist Peter Eratostene and drummer Julian Clarke. Her show began with a looped, a cappella introduction to a bluesy, funky 4/4 piece, rounded out by solos from all four members of the band. The second song was “Don’t Use Your Eyes,” a minor-key, backbeat-focused original that evoked Jill Scott, both melodically and rhythmically, and was followed by “Missed Connections,” a song about the wistful aftermath of chance encounters, featuring an athletic solo from Joseph-Dennie.

Bennett is a natural, engaging storyteller, and her easy affinity with the crowd served her well in the intimate setting of Burdock’s Music Hall. This affinity was used to full effect in “My Place,” a 12/8 original dedicated to the warmth and comfort of the urban apartment, which Bennett performed alone, accompanying herself on acoustic piano. It was fitting that a song about the relationship between an individual and her environment was a solo performance – and it resulted in one of the most compelling moments of the evening, as the extra space gave Bennett the opportunity to showcase her dynamic range as both a singer and pianist. Rounding out her set was the original “No End,” a 6/8 gospel-tinged number about a shared sense of limitless possibility within a romantic relationship. The fact – which Bennett shared with the appreciative audience in another funny introduction – that the particular relationship that inspired the song ended soon after it was written, and that the song itself served as the last song of her set, only added to its charm.

Taking the stage with guitarist Andrew Marzotto, pianist Ewen Farncombe, bassist Mark Godfrey and drummer Jon Foster, Joanna Majoko began her set with an arrangement of the jazz standard “Bye Bye Blackbird.” Bennett and Majoko share some musical similarities – but where Bennett sings R&B and neo-soul, Majoko sings modern vocal jazz with R&B and neo-soul influences, with an emphasis on harmony, individual soloing, and engaging rhythmic interplay between band members. All of these elements were used to full effect on “I Hear Sounds of Africa Calling,” a 6/8 Majoko original that featured a strong piano solo from Farncombe, and “These Nights,” an original ballad, sung by Majoko with a plain, delicate vocal quality that showcased the range and accuracy of her voice.

Majoko played the caxixi – a basket shaker used widely in Brazilian music – throughout much of her set, but never quite as impressively as in her wordless arrangement of Miles Davis’ “Nardis,” in which she superimposed a consistent 3-beat figure on the 4/4 song while singing both the melody and a scat solo. Herbie Hancock’s “Tell Me a Bedtime Story” saw Farncombe taking another confident solo and Foster doing some of his strongest work of the evening, and the original “You Are Bold,” which began with a beautiful keyboard and voice introduction, gave Marzotto the space to stretch out on an excellent guitar solo.

“Where You Are,” a funky, swung-sixteenths original, served as the evening’s penultimate song, and showcased Godfrey’s electric bass skills, both as a thoughtful soloist and as a rock-solid timekeeper (he held down the low end on upright, for the majority of the evening). It should be noted that the sonic balance of Majoko’s set was really top-notch, a testament not only to the maturity of Majoko and her band, but also to Burdock and its consistently outstanding front-of-house sound. Finally, Bennett returned to the stage to join Majoko for Roy Hargrove’s “Forget Regret,” which featured both singers sharing the melody and trading scat solos over the rhythm section’s confident playing, eliciting enthusiastic applause and bringing a joyful night of music-making to a close.

Burdock presented Chelsea Bennett and Joanna Majoko in a double bill as part of its third annual Piano Fest, on Friday, January 26, 2018.

Colin Story is a jazz guitarist, writer, and teacher based in Toronto. He can be reached through his website, on Instagram and on Twitter.