As 2009 turns over to 2010 we wish bon voyage to two long-time pillars of the musical communities of Southern Ontario.
At the end of the 2009/10 season, conductor Howard Dyck will lay down the baton of Kitchener-Waterloo’s Grand Philharmonic Choir, after an astonishing 37 years as its conductor. Last year he moved on from his other career, as a CBC broadcaster, for such programmes as “Saturday Afternoon at the Opera” and “Choral Concert.” His remarkable achievements are the subject of an insightful interview with WholeNote columnist Benjamin Stein.
As well, it was recently announced that, after 23 hot, sticky summers running the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival, saxophonist and band-leader Jim Galloway has stepped down as the festival’s artistic director. Jim is also a regular WholeNote contributor, and this month he looks back on the joys and challenges of steering this major festival for more than two decades.
I chose my words carefully when I used the phrase bon voyage in my opening sentence. This is because neither of these two musicians will be “retiring” in any ordinary sense of the word – but, rather, will embark on new journeys. To liberally paraphrase a line from the play Rosenkranz and Guildenstern are Dead – their exits from their current positions are simply entries into new possibilities. While both men are discreet about what, exactly, they intend to do in the future, I have no doubt that we’ll be hearing from them.
Both Dyck and Galloway appear on the cover of this month’s magazine – arising from Lake Ontario, like characters out of the Canadian Opera Company’s recent production of Le Rossignol. And on this map, you’ll also see a forest of little orange pins. Each one represents a location where copies of The WholeNote can be picked up. (The big red pin in the centre of Toronto is The WholeNote’s office, at 720 Bathurst St.)
At this time of the year, it seemed fitting to come up with a cover design that illustrates our commitment to our communities – and our communities’ commitment to us. There are in fact close to 1,000 places throughout the province where readers obtain our magazine, and thanks to this extensive network, 30,000 copies of The WholeNote are distributed every month.
Perhaps I should say almost every month. Twice a year we publish a double issue – and this is one of them, with listings for the months of December and January (up to February 7). For this reason, there are almost 700 concert listings in the magazine. That, as my Scottish grandmother would have said, is more than you can shake a stick at – and it’s proof of the rich and diverse musical life of the province.
We wish all our readers a musical holiday season, and an event-full 2010!
Colin Eatock, managing editor
