Editor's Opener

March Winds

March has blown in – and with it a full slate of concert events in and around Toronto. There are almost 500 concert listings in The WholeNote, which is not unusual for one of the busier months of the year. But what is unusual is the way the concerts are distributed throughout the month. (We notice things like this at The WholeNote office.)

The week of the 15th to the 19th is a little thin: that’s the week of the schools’ March Break, so I suppose it’s understandable that many groups have chosen not to perform at this time. But, as a result, the following weekend – March 26, 27 and 28 – constitutes a “perfect storm” of performances, with 76 concerts over three days.

For concert-goers, I suppose this is a good thing, although the sheer abundance of choices could be a tad overwhelming. But when things like this happen, as they occasionally do, I always wonder if concert presenters shouldn’t perhaps be a little more prudent in their scheduling – lest they find themselves up against too much competition. Still, if each and every one of these 76 concerts attracts a large and enthusiastic audience, there’s no harm done.

As well, two other aspects of the month’s offerings stand out as noteworthy. For one thing, March is the busiest month for University music departments. Students who have been preparing all year are ready to show the world what they can do, in campus concerts in around Toronto. As many of these events are either free, or open to the public for a modest ticket-price, March is a month of good musical value.

Also, this month’s WholeNote shows that the benefit concert is still very much a part of our musical life. In Ori Dagan’s column, on page 47, you can read about some remarkable efforts to raise money for Haiti that have taken place in the jazz community. And on the opposite page, you’ll see an advertisment for a particlarly impressive fundraising event. “Sing for Haiti,” on March 7 at Metropolitan United Church, brings together six of the top choirs in Toronto, plus CBC announcer Tom Allen and singer-songwriter Melanie Doane. Met United has a seating capacity of about 800 – so with tickets priced at $20, this concert could raise $16,000 for Doctors Without Borders and Free the Children. Given the desperate situation in Haiti, let’s hope that every ticket is sold.

In The WholeNote’s Listings Section, you’ll also find a benefit concert for University Settlement Music and Arts School on March 20, performed by soprano Anne Yardley, and mezzo Michelle Simmons, at St. George the Martyr Church. But this is just a prelude to a much bigger benefit concert the following month. On April 18, the piano duo team of Anagnoson and Kinton will appear at Glenn Gould Studio, to raise funds for University Settlement’s programme for families in need.

Last but not least, the Three Cantors will take to the stage at St. Anne’s Anglican on March 26 for a good cause. You can read more about this trio of singing Anglican clergymen, and their ongoing efforts to raise money for the Primates World Relief and Development Fund in Allan Pulker’s column on page 20.

March winds are chilly in this part of the world – but there’s plenty of music in the air, to help us all get through what’s left of
the winter.

Colin Eatock, Managing Editor

Hearts and Tigers

February is the shortest month of the year – but you wouldn’t know it from perusing The WholeNote. There are over 500 concert listings in this issue of the magazine.

And February is also the month of Valentine’s Day. This annual celebration, falling on the 14th of the month, can be credited as a source of musical, as well as amorous, inspiration. Unlike Christmas, Easter or even St. Cecilia’s Day, not much repertoire has been written specifically for the occasion. Yet although there are no “Valentine’s Day cantatas” (Are there?), musicians have come up with various ways to honour the day.

For instance, down at Roy Thomson Hall, soprano Karina Gauvin will sing a recital of love songs by Scarlatti, Chausson, Bizet, Ravel and Weill. And up at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts, you can hear the Richmond Hill Philharmonic play a concert called “Dressed in Love”: a programme of classics, opera and jazz. Soprano Leslie Fagan is the guest vocalist.

A little further afield, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony is jumping the gun, with “Music of Love” on February 11, 12 and 13. They must be keeners – or maybe they all have something better do to on Valentine’s Day. On the 14th, the Guelph Symphony Orchesta offers “Music of Love and Romance,” with soprano Mary DuQuesnay. And on the same day there’s also Orchestra London’s “Valentine’s Pops” show, featuring jazz, Broadway, light opera, and popular love songs. Soprano Sonja Gustafson will sing – it seems you can’t do a Valentine’s Day concert with a contralto – violinist Mary-Elizabeth Brown will perform, and the London Youth Symphony will also make an appearance.

As well, The WholeNote will mark the day, with a surprise on our website. Go to www.thewholenote.com on February 14, to see a special Valentine’s Day posting.

This year, however, there’s an added twist to the celebration of February 14: it’s also Chinese New Year. The City of Toronto is saluting the Year of the Tiger with a free New Year’s Celebration at Scarborough Civic Centre. And in the spirit of international diplomacy, Toronto’s New Music Concerts has decided to present a contemporary programme (works by Christos Hatzis, Chinary Ung, Chan Ka Nin, and Alice Ho) that pays homage to both special days.

Speaking of contemporary music, I’d like to mention something you won’t find in this magazine – but rather on our website. The well-known broadcaster and contemporary-music expert Larry Lake has written an in-depth article on the foreign composers who are visiting Toronto this winter. Already, Zygmunt Krauze has been to town. (You can read about his concerts in Andrew Timar’s blogs, also on our website). Still to come are Krzysztof Penderecki, Osvaldo Golijov, Gerald Barry, Steve Reich and Jonathan Harvey. As Lake says, it’s “A Perfect Storm” of famous composers.

One of those composers, the Argentinean Osvaldo Golijov, is featured in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s New Creations Festival this year. His works can be heard at Roy Thomson Hall on February 25, 27 and March 3. Soundstreams also has a Golijov concert, on February 24, and there’s a Soundstreams “Salon 21” on February 22. Finally, Golijov will speak at the University of Toronto on February 26. For more details on these events, see the the Listings section. And for blogs on Golijov’s visit, keep an eye on our website, www.thewholenote.com.

Colin Eatock,

Managing Editor

Moving On to 2010

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

Both Sides of the Street

The WholeNote doesn’t publish a “Manitoba Edition” – but if we did, it might well feature the two artists interviewed in this issue. Violinist James Ehnes hails from Brandon, Manitoba, and has gone on to international fame and fortune. Vocal coach and conductor Miah Im, who currently teaches at the University of Toronto, was born in Winnipeg.

And something else connects Im and Ehnes, at least on this occasion. They’re both performing in halls on Philosopher’s Walk – the brick lane that’s a direct path between the Royal Conservatory of Music and U of T’s Edward Johnson Building. With the opening of Koerner Hall, the Bloor-Avenue Road area has become an intensely musical place. And while the RCM and the Faculty of Music tend to maintain their solitudes, their approximity seems to be a good thing from a concert-goer’s standpoint.

The WholeNote has never published a “Vocal Edition,” either – although the current issue comes pretty close. In addition to our usual columns on the operatic and choral scenes (contributed by Christopher Hoile and Benjamin Stein, respectively), several other columns draw attention to the variety of vocal music in our community.

Allan Pulker focuses on several singers who are busy this month: sopranos Shannon Mercer and Carla Huhtanen will both be performing in Queen of Puddings’ presentation of Puksånger-Lockrop (by the contemporary Swedish composer Karin Rehnqvist) – which, judging by descriptions, should be a wild and earthy piece of folk-inspired music. Later in the month, Huhtanen will be joined by mezzo Krisztina Szabó and baritone Jesse Clark for a (presumably) more civilized Schubertiad, under the auspices of Off Centre Music.

As well, Pulker mentions a remarkable recital at the U of T this month: soprano Lorna MacDonald, and mezzo Kimberly Barber will recreate a 1973 joint performance of Lois Marshall and Maureen Forrester. Also at the U of T, the Aldeburgh Connection will stage a programme of two English composers: Britten and Purcell.

Our early music columnist, Simone Desilets, points out that Tafelmusik will also present vocal music by Purcell in November: soprano Suzie Leblanc, tenor Charles Daniels and baritone Nathaniel Watson will sing in Purcell’s King Arthur.

And our correspondent Terry Robbins returns to The WholeNote this month, with much news about the community musical theatre scene. A new company, “Steppin’Out Theatrical Productions,” which will perform at the new Richmond Hill Theatre, is the creation of 16-year old Brian Lee. Steppin’Out’s season opens in November with The Pajama Game. Robbins also talks about November shows by Clarkson Music Theatre (Thoroughly Modern Millie), Brampton Music Theatre (Footloose – The Musical), Scarborough Music Theatre (Nine), and Curtain Call Players (A Chorus Line).

Several performers from the instrumental side of the street are also featured. Pamela Margles, talks to James Ehnes about his nascent career as a pianist, among other things. Jason van Eyk, our new-music correspondent, focuses on the St. Lawrence Quartet’s ambitious commissioning project, which has led to the creation of five new works for the ensemble by Canadian composers. And mJ buell’s contribution to the issue is an interview with clarinetist Joaquin Valdepeñas.

Finally, Jack MacQuarrie, who writes our band column, reports on a tragedy. Fred Mills, who played trumpet in the Canadian Brass for nearly a quarter of a century, was killed in a car accident near his home in Augusta, Georgia. MacQuarrie talks with Charles Daellenbach and Raymond Tizzard about the late trumpeter’s distinguished career. Mills’ passing is a loss to the musical world.

Colin Eatock, managing editor

A Tale of Two Orchestras

Toronto plays host to just a handful of touring symphony orchestras in the course of a season – so it’s surprising to see two remarkable orchestras appearing in the same month. And what makes this particularly interesting is that they couldn’t be more different. One comes from a nearby city, the other from a distant land. One is a well-established, elite ensemble with a glorious history; and the other is a young ensemble that arose in unlikely circumstances.

The first of the pair to unpack their instruments in Toronto will be the Cleveland Orchestra, who will perform at Roy Thomson Hall on October 20. They’ve been here before – I remember hearing in them in 1985, and being astounded by their nigh-on perfect precision and balance. Not for nothing have they been called the “hundred-piece string quartet.”

That was 24 years ago, so their return is long overdue. And the music they’ll be bringing with them – Debussy’s Fêtes, Haydn’s Symphony No. 85 “La Reine” and Shostakovich’s Symphony No.5 – should offer a multifaceted account of what the orchestra sounds like these days, seven years into the tenure of music director Franz Welser-Möst.

The second orchestra to come to town in October will be the Orquesta Sinfonica Simón Bolivar, from Caracas Venezuela. They’ll be playing at the Four Seasons Centre – the only hall in Toronto large enough to accommodate this huge ensemble – on October 26, led by their dynamic young conductor, Gustavo Dudamel.

Strictly speaking, the Bolivar Orchestra is an amateur youth orchestra, although they play at a professional level. The ensemble stands at the pinnacle of a burgeoning classical-music culture for young musicians, that owes its existence largely to one man. It was an economist, José Antonio Abreu, who founded the country’s graduated network of youth orchestras (“El Sistema,” as it’s known) in 1975, as a way of encouraging poor kids to take up music rather than crime.

For his efforts, Abreu has won many international awards, including Canada’s Glenn Gould Prize – and the Bolivar Orchestra’s tour to Toronto was organized by the Gould Foundation in recognition of Abreu’s achievements. In addition to the big orchestral concert, there are two other “Sistema” events scheduled, both at the Royal Conservatory’s new Koerner Hall on October 28: an all-day panel discussion on music as a social tool, beginning at 8:30 am; and a concert by the brass section of the orchestra, at 8:00 pm.

And October has more – lots more – to offer. In the pages of this magazine you’ll find about 500 listings for performances in Toronto and Southern Ontario. You’ll also find our annual Blue Pages directory: a “Who’s Who,” containing more than 170 profiles of local performing and presenting organizations. Judging by the level of musical activity this month, I can’t help wondering if there’s really a recession out there. But perhaps I should leave economic questions to Dr. Abreu.

Colin Eatock, Managing Editor