WHO IS SEPTEMBER’S CHILD?

_{“…it is her grace and presence…which commands attention”}

This determined little person with the far-away gaze will someday fall in love at Tafel-musik concerts, have the talent, backbone, and the legs to take a job at the Moulin Rouge to help finance her more esoteric Paris studies. She continues to dance her way into the pages of music history, and onto the operatic stages of the world.

Think you know who our mystery child is? Send your best guess to musicschildren@thewholenote.com. Please provide your mailing address just in case your name is drawn! Winners will be selected by random draw among correct replies received by September 20, 2010.

July/August’s Child Janina Fialkowska

The full interview will be online shortly. Stay Tuned.

Still having a right royal time, Janina Fialkowska has been referred to as “Canada’s First Lady of Chopin”, but the gloves are off: this remarkable person is a fighter. Even at the time the photo was taken, she was practising about 5 hours a day. There was an hour before school. There were 2 hours in the middle of the day – an hour during lunch, and then running home again while her classmates did gym, sports, music or art. Another 2 hours at night. “You have to acquire that appetite for work at a very young age,” she says, “so that it becomes a comforting old habit. Does it sound too strange to say this? That today my world could be coming to an end … maybe a flood … my house and everything lost … but if I have practised well in the morning, one part of me will still be happy.”

Today Janina Fialkowska is a regular guest soloist with prestigious orchestras all over the world – famous for her interpretations of Chopin, Mozart and Liszt, chosen in 1990 to perform the world premiere of the recently discovered Liszt Third Piano Concerto with the Chicago Symphony. She has recorded all 3 Liszt concertos, the Paderewski and Moszkowski piano concertos, Chopin’s concertos, sonatas, impromptus and etudes, and a CD devoted to the music of Karol Szymanowski. CBC’s 1992 documentary The World of Janina Fialkowska was awarded a special Jury Prize at the 1992 San Francisco International Film Festival.

In 2002 her career was challenged by the discovery of a cancerous tumor in her left arm. The tumor was removed and after a rarely performed muscle-transfer procedure in 2003 she resumed her career, performing the Ravel and Prokofiev concertos for the left hand (which she transcribed for her right hand). She resumed her two-handed career in January 2004.

Janina Fialkowska was the founder of the award winning “Piano Six” music outreach project which later became “Piano Plus”. She is an Officer of the Order of Canada.

What do you remember about the day in that childhood photo?

It was the Quebec Music Festival, and I had won the second grand prize of the festival. I believe that year I played Mozart’s variations on “Ah vous dirai-je … Maman”, which I happen to be playing right now and will be recording. (So, as my brother tells me, I have not made any progress at all!) I had also played a Mozart concerto. It was all terribly exciting and I was just very overwhelmed by her clothes … and her tiara … because they were sparkly … and because, well, she was the Queen Mum! And I was also very proud because of how everybody else who was being presented didn’t know to curtsey. But I had been to the Sacred Heart Convent, and I knew how.

These were the most important things that went through my mind. Unfortunately the music played very little role. I liked music fine but it didn’t alter the way I felt or move me. I was having great fun being good at playing the piano. There was quite a group of talented young pianists, and competitions. And I was 11 … at 11 you just go for it.

The Queen Mum was actually very sweet and nice – so very gracious, and such a pro.

If you could travel back through time, and meet face to face with the young person in that childhood photo, is there anything you would like to ask her?

I think … that I was really quite happy at the moment, and fearless. I wouldn’t want to ask her anything that would disturb that. She was about to face one hell of a life, but at that moment everything was still okay. I know she was happy. I wouldn’t want to say anything that would cause her to question anything.

Is there anything you’d like to be able to tell her?

Enjoy the music more … that playing the concerts is all about sharing music with other people and it’s not always a terrible competition within oneself to do better…to do better…to do better. That’s something I only learned in the last ten years and I wish I’d known it much sooner.

I would love to be able to give that child true faith in her small talent – to trust it and not always be questioning it. Yes, it’s the questioning that probably makes you a good musician … but it can also destroy you…

And that little girl was in for a rough ride for quite a long time…

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR JULY AND AUGUST WINNERS!

HERE’S WHAT THEY WON–

_• Lorrie MacKinnon (Oakville), Alice Lee (Markham), Maureen Whitehead (Toronto), Jane Marvy (Toronto), Anthony Warren (Mississauga) each win a pair of tickets for Chopin on Period Piano (October 7-10): Tafelmusik’s first-ever performances of music by the 19th-century composer, and Janina Fialkowska’s Canadian period ensemble debut. She will play Chopin’s Piano Concerto no. 1 in E minor (arranged for chamber ensemble) on a remarkable1848 Pleyel piano. The programme also includes Spohr’s Nonet in F major, op.31.

_• Anthony MacKinnon (Hamilton) and a friend will be guests of the Royal Ontario Museum (Tuesday October 5) to preview Fryderyk Chopin and the Romantic Piano including a talk and brief performance by Janina Fialkowska, and tickets to return when the exhibit opens to the public (Oct 9 –Mar 27). The exhibit features original scores in Chopin’s hand, period arts and letters, costume plates, and an example of Chopin’s instrument of choice – a Pleyel grand piano. (info: 416-586-5797)

_• Mary Ingraham (Gabriola BC) wins Janina Fialkowska’s Chopin Piano Concertos with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Bramwell Tovey, conductor. This recording of the Piano Concertos no. 2 in F minor, op. 21; and no. 1 in E minor, op. 11 is brand-new: scheduled for public release October 26, 2010! ATMA (ACD22643)

_• Joan Sayer (Scarborough), Paul Kay (Toronto), J Govindarajan (Waterloo) win Janina Fialkowska’s double CD set, Etudes, Sonatas and Impromptus: Rarely Heard Recordings from 1997 and 1999, re-released by ATMA in May 2010 (ACD22554)

_• Moira Anderson (Victoria BC), Janos Gardonyi (Toronto), Jay Hackney (Brooklin, ON) win Chopin Recital, released in Oct 2009, Janina Fialkowska’s own beautiful Chopin bicentenary picks, including the Polonaises, Préludes, Valses, Nocturnes, Ballades, Mazurkas, and Scherzos. ATMA (ACD22597)

_• Barbara Thompson (Toronto), John Hansen (New Minas NS), Larry Landis (Tulsa OK), win Piano Concertos 1 & 2, Janina’s 2005 “comeback” recording with the Chamber Players of Canada. “Chopin in every likelihood performed his concertos at private salon concerts accompanied by a chamber ensemble…”
ATMA (ACD22291)

WHO IS THE JULY/AUGUST CHILD?

Accepting her prize from the Queen Mother, with a left hand she would later have to re-train, this little girl made her debut as a soloist with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in the same year. In 1974, she had decided to go to law school when she won the first Artur Rubinstein competition in Israel.

“A born Chopin interpreter”

—Rubinstein

Think you know who our mystery child is? Send your best guess tomusicschildren@thewholenote.com. Please provide your mailing address just in case your name is drawn! Winners will be selected by random draw among correct replies received by August 20, 2010.

June’s Child Andrew Burashko

There are several doors though which a child may enter the world of music. Sometimes it’s rhythm, sometimes it’s melody, or harmony. Sometimes it’s the mysterious alchemy of the drama inherent in music.

The story of Andrew Burashko’s musical life, in very broad strokes, begins as a little 5-year boy in Moscow unwillingly pushed to begin learning the piano. It continues as a man whose successful career as a solo pianist coexists with his extraordinary drive as a collaborator, and whose work still honours that little boy who was so engaged by the Nutcracker and its story .

Since 1998, as the Artistic Director of the Art of Time Ensemble, Burashko has brought highly skilled classical, post-classical, jazz and popular musicians together onstage in dance and language-based performances that challenge the way many of us have defined “chamber music,” enticing diverse audiences to engage in the music, sometimes even in spite of themselves. In recent programmes the ensemble has been joined by Peggy Baker, Sarah Slean, Tom McCamus, Ted Dykstra, Michael Ondaatje and Steven Page.

Other musical adults in your family?

My mother was a choral conductor and solfegio teacher. She was out of the house most of the time working. Her mother was a pianist but I never knew her. I’m the only other musician in the immediate family.

Where did music fit into your life at that time?

I loved to sing at home. At that time, the only place I heard music would have been at home. Records: mostly classical music and some popular Soviet music. I remember hearing pop music for the first time when we left the Soviet Union – I would have been 7. It was the Beatles. I was hooked... . Piano was my first instrument. My mother tried starting me when I was about five – still in Moscow. That only lasted a couple of lessons. I wouldn’t have become a musician had I not been pushed.

Andrew resumed his piano studies when his family settled in Toronto, at the age of about 9, with Marina Geringas at the Toronto RCM. He was soon enrolled in the gifted youth programme which provided him with his first experiences of chamber music. “With others, it was a joy from the beginning.”

Do you remember when you began to think of yourself as a musician?

Not a particular point. But there was always the mirror of my friends who considered me a musician...

JUNE’S WINNERS & PRIZES: CONGRATULATIONS!

HERE’S WHAT THEY WON

• Sara Schabas: Two tickets to hear Andrew Burashko and the Art of Time Ensemble perform at the Toronto Summer Music Festival, in Musical Transformations: Erich Korngold: Source & Inspiration on Thursday July 29 (8:00pm, Walter Hall). This intriguingly creative concert linking the 20th and 21st centuries features a Korngold suite and the new songs it has inspired.

• Phoebe Cleverly and Claudia Krawchuk: Each win a pair of tickets to Robert Schumann 1810-2010 which launches The Art of Time’s 2010-2011 season (Sept 17 and 18, Enwave Theatre). With readings from his own letters and critical writing, the programme explores Schumann’s piano, vocal and chamber music, and includes the Andante from his Piano Quartet Op.47, selections from Kreisleriana, a selection of lieder, and the entire Piano Quintet Op.44.

• Barbara Thomson and Carol Desoer: each win a copy of Andrew Burashko’s solo CD Burashko Plays Prokofiev on the Opening Day label. (ODR 9316): Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 6 Op. 82 and his Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet Op.75. “I like this recording because Prokofiev’s music resonates on a very deep level in me. I’m very proud of this recording.”

JUNE’S WINNERS & PRIZES: CONGRATULATIONS!HERE’S WHAT THEY WON
• Sara Schabas: Two tickets to hear Andrew Burashko and the Art of Time Ensemble perform at the Toronto Summer Music Festival, in Musical Transformations: Erich Korngold: Source & Inspiration on Thursday July 29 (8:00pm, Walter Hall). This intriguingly creative concert linking the 20th and 21st centuries features a Korngold suite and the new songs it has inspired.
• Phoebe Cleverly and Claudia Krawchuk: Each win a pair of tickets to Robert Schumann 1810-2010 which launches The Art of Time’s 2010-2011 season (Sept 17 and 18, Enwave Theatre). With readings from his own letters and critical writing, the programme explores Schumann’s piano, vocal and chamber music, and includes the Andante from his Piano Quartet Op.47, selections from Kreisleriana, a selection of lieder, and the entire Piano Quintet Op.44.
• Barbara Thomson and Carol Desoer: each win a copy of Andrew Burashko’s solo CD Burashko Plays Prokofiev on the Opening Day label. (ODR 9316): Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 6 Op. 82 and his Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet Op.75. “I like this recording because Prokofiev’s music resonates on a very deep level in me. I’m very proud of this recording.”

WHO IS JUNE’S CHILD?

“Heard any good jokes?”

Apparently benign, a tyrant lurks within. But plays well with others: Sitarski,  Dann, Wiebe, Quarrington, Dwyer, Piltch, and Goldsmith; also with May’s Mystery Child – Winona Zelenka (July 29).

“So….what else?”

Collaborators have included  Peggy Baker, Sarah Slean, Tom McCamus, Shauna Rolston, Ted Dykstra, Michael Ondaatje and Steven Page. Perhaps he’s playing on a pan with a shovel to explore the art of time. Or digging into what it takes to break down barriers of culture and genre. Think you know who our mystery child is? Send your best guess to musicschildren@
thewholenote.com. Please provide your mailing address just in case your name is drawn! Winners will be selected by random draw among correct replies received by June 20, 2010.

May’s Child Winona Zelenka

Cellist Winona Zelenka lives in Etobicoke, in Toronto, with her husband, audio engineer Ron Searles (an enthusiastic amateur violinist); daughter Kathryn, who sings; son James, who also plays cello in his spare time; and Felix, an orange cat who likes to eat bow-hairs when Winona’s back is turned.

Earliest memory of music?
My earliest memory is singing in Sunday School! I was probably about four: “If You’re Happy and You Know It”. Everyone knows that one!

Other family musicians?
My father was a professional flautist in Slovakia before emigrating to Canada, then taught high school music in Espanola, Ontario. My mom was a pianist and organist, and played with me for Kiwanis festivals; she always had a job playing organ in church, too, and still does!

At the time of the photo?
I would’ve been around six years old: Mom would take all three of us to Sudbury every week for Suzuki lessons. My sister played violin and piano, my brother guitar. Dad was still practising and playing at the high school sometimes. Music was a daily thing, even if it was just a few minutes of playing – Mom made it consistent for us. They both had the very European approach that learning music should be part of growing up for every kid. Dad played his LPs all the time – romantic orchestral works – great players like Heifetz and Rubenstein.

Making music alone?
I started on piano, probably at around age four, then cello at four-and-a-half. I remember playing at home in our house in Espanola – I remember the white tape on the little cello I started on, that shows you where to put your fingers. My first cello teacher, who I’m still in touch with, is a remarkably sensitive person with a perpetually enquiring mind; she never lost patience with me and always tried to find ways to get around my stubbornness and frustration.

And with others?
I balked at playing the cello, till there was a group Suzuki performance when I was five or so, and I refused to play. When I saw the applause the other kids were getting, I said hey! I can do that too! My jealousy of the others caused me to pick up the cello and show my stuff.
My family moved to Toronto when I was nine. The move was prompted by two things – my Dad had been teaching music at Espanola High School, but did not like it, and decided to change careers – so he ended up going to the Chiropractic College in Toronto. He never went back to teaching music. The other reason was to find me more advanced training, which they knew they could get in Toronto. My teacher in Sudbury knew Bill Findlay of the TSO – they had both studied with Ronald Leonard at Eastman years back. I think my parents also had the idea of me going to the Conservatory, which I eventually did.
Read the full interview online at thewholenote.com.

MAY'S WINNERS & PRIZES: CONGRATULATIONS!
HERE'S WHAT THEY WON
• Mandy Lam: A pair of tickets to attend the launch of Winona Zelenka's two-CD Marquis Classics recording, J. S.Bach: Six Suites for Solo Cello, with a performance on Sunday, June 6 (note the 3pm starting time). Winona takes centre stage at Glenn Gould Studio to perform Bach's hauntingly beautiful Suites 1, 2 and 6. Prize includes a copy of the CD.

• Louie Calleja: And a friend will be guests of Stratford Summer Music to hear Winona Zelenka play one of the six solo cello studies in the "Bach at Rundles" series: an intimate 11am performance followed by a delectable three-course luncheon at Rundles Restaurant in Stratford. A "suite" way to enjoy a Sunday in July or August (date to be arranged with the presenter).

• Paul Sayer: Two tickets to hear Winona Zelenka perform at the Toronto Summer Music Festival with Andrew Burashko and the Art of Time Ensemble, in Musical Transformations: Erich Korngold: Source & Inspiration on Thursday July 29 (8:00pm, Walter Hall). This intriguingly creative concert linking the 20th and 21st centuries features a Korngold suite and the new songs it has inspired.

• Julie Goldstein: Wins a copy of Winona's brand new CD, J. S. Bach: Six Suites for Solo Cello on Marquis Classics (MAR 509). Winona says "I continue to believe that there is nothing in human experience that can't be said with this amazing music." We're sure you will agree.

Music’s Children gratefully acknowledges Francine, Ron, Kathryn, Luisa, John, Cecilia, Stratford Summer Music, Toronto Summer Music, and Marquis Classics.

MAY'S CHILD

Does the shy smile tug your heart-strings?

Think you know who next May’s mystery child is? Send your best guess to musicschildren@ thewholenote.com. Please provide your mailing address just in case your name is drawn!

Winners will be selected by random draw among correct replies received by May 20, 2010.

April's Child Krisztina Szabó

Wearing the pants (Idamante in Idomeneo with the COC in May), or playing the flirt, Hungarian-Canadian mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó steals hearts and scenes of all kinds, in a wide range of opera, recital, concert and chamber repertoire, both in Canada and internationally. She has a deep, rich voice and wonderful appetite for immersing herself in the emotional and psychological life of the roles she plays. These are cornerstones of a vigorous career reflecting a winning combination of musicianship and stagecraft, in a world that increasingly expects opera singers to be compelling actors as well as fabulous singers.

Born and raised in Mississauga, Ontario, Krisztina attended the University of Western Ontario (B. Mus.), Guildhall School of Music and Drama (Post Diploma) and was a member of the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio 1998-2001.

Earliest musical memory?
A musical in Grade 3 at Cashmere Avenue Public School for "The King's New Clothes". I was the Queen…" "the King is in his altogether, his altogether.. the very least the king has ever worn"…

Musicians in your family?
No official musicians, but both my parents sang in their youth in hometown operetta productions (in Écs, Hungary). I am told that they both had beautiful voices. At home when I was growing up my father refused to sing, saying that he had ruined his voice smoking in his youth. My mother would sing a bit around the house in a goofy bird-like voice just to be silly. My father is crazy about Hungarian operetta and we did listen to a fair bit of Hungarian music on LPs before LPs went out of style. He has written down the words (or at least the first lines of) as many Hungarian folk songs as he knows. When I was young we would visit Hungary: it was not uncommon for people to spontaneously burst into singing folk songs to which everyone seemed to know the words - in someone's home, a pub, whatever. It was pretty cool. Sadly, I couldn't join in because I didn't know the words!

First steps?
I am told that as a child I was always singing.... you couldn't keep me quiet! But that photo was taken well before I started any formal training. My first formal music training started with piano lessons at the age of 9, and that same year I also began my 6 year membership in the Toronto Children's Chorus.

First experiences singing alone?
I sang a solo at a Remembrance Day ceremony at school - just me, a capella, and I remember the hush of the rest of the student population as I sang and how many people came up to me afterward to tell me how much they liked my singing. I remember the rush and the pride I felt in that. The song was "Blowin' in the Wind".

And with others?
I joined the Toronto Children's Chorus and began making music with others - and music at such a high level! I remember feeling like I had come home - being with kids like me who loved to sing more than anything was such an amazing feeling. I still have a love for singing in a chorus -to be surrounded by the sound of many people's voices raised together in song... it's quite a powerful experience.

First instrument?
My first instrument was the piano - I completed my RCM Grade 10 piano before going to the University of Western Ontario. Applying for universities and thinking about what to major in, music was strangely not foremost in my mind. I think I debated pursuing optometry and possibly actuarial sciences (like my sister), when it occurred to me that the one thing I truly loved in life was music. Once that realization hit, the choice made itself. I did 2 years as a piano major before switching to voice to study with Darryl Edwards.

In 4th year at Western I was selected to be a soloist in the Duruflé Requiem for a concert with all choirs and orchestra. It was a very big deal, and I had only just recently decided to truly pursue singing as a career. I remember how nervous I was but how thrilling it was to stand up in front of all those people - my fellow musicians and the audience members alike all looking at and listening to me. It really hit me that no, I didn't want to be a music teacher (I was an Education major) and that "hey, I think I am meant to be a performer". It was a crazy notion really - I had no idea of what that entailed; how I was going to achieve that and what it would take. Maybe my ignorance was a blessing because I just threw myself down this unknown path about which I only knew for sure the fact that I was meant to be a singer.

The point at which you began to think of yourself as a musician?
There is always this differentiation in the business - are you a musician or are you a singer? I'd like to think I am both.. at least on my good days! But every time someone has asked me (and they still do occasionally!).. "Oh, you're an opera singer? But what is your day job?".. I count my blessings that I get to do something I love and only that.. and get paid to do it!

If you could travel back through time and meet face to face with the little person in that childhood photo is there anything you'd like to say?
I would tell her that she was one lucky little girl...that she was going to sing and play dress-up for the rest of her life!

Upcoming?
Idamante (Canadian Opera Company's Idomeneo, Dark Star Requiem with Tapestry New Opera Works, Beauty Dissolves in One Brief Hour with Queen of Puddings Music Theatre (details below) and recitals with Brett Polegato at Music Niagara (July 23, St. Mike's Church and Niagara on the Lake) and Waterside Summer Series (July 24, Amherst Island).

APRIL'S WINNERS & PRIZES: CONGRATULATIONS!
HERE'S WHAT THEY WON

• Hans de Groot: A pair of tickets to attend the May 12 performance of Mozart’s Idomeneo, as guests of the Canadian Opera Company. Kristina Szabó will sing sing the role of Idamante, son of Idomeneo – the King of Troy. The role of Idamante was originally sung by a castrato when Idomeneo was first performed in 1781, two days after Mozart’s 25th birthday. The COC cast also includes Paul Groves (Idomeneo), Isabel Bayrakdarian (Ilia) and Tamara Wilson (Elettra). Conductor: Harry Bicket, Director: François de Carpentries.

• Judith Haynal: A pair of tickets for Dark Star Requiem (June 12) during the opening weekend of the 2010 Luminato Festival. This  world premiere production from Tapestry new opera works & Luminato, features the Gryphon Trio & the Elmer Iseler Singers. A dramatic oratorio from poet Jill Battson and composer Andrew Staniland, Dark Star Requiem explores “the 25-year history of the AIDS pandemic with astonishing power and hope” and features Neema Bickersteth (soprano), Krisztina Szabó (mezzo soprano), Peter McGillivray (baritone) and Marcus Nance (bass-baritone).

• Deirdre Warren: A pair of tickets for Beauty Disolves in a Brief Hour – A Triptych (July 29, 30 or 31st), as guests of Queen of Puddings Music Theatre Company. Chamber operas on the eternal theme of love are sung in Mandarin, English and medieval French, commissioned from three Canadian composers: Fuhong Shi, John Rea and Pierre Klanac presented in a unified fully staged music-theatre/opera work. Xin Wang (soprano), Krisztina Szabó (mezzo-soprano), John Lettieri (accordion) and stage director Ruth Madoc-Jones team up with Queen of Puddings' co-artistic directors, Dáirine Ní Mheadhra and John Hess. At the Tank House (Distillery Historic District) in association with Young Centre for the Performing Arts.

Wearing the pants (upcoming at the COC in May), or playing the flirt, this Hungarian-Canadian steals hearts and scenes of all kinds, both here and internationally. Renowned in rehearsal for hopping up and down when things go either very well or very long, she is also known for her taste in leather pants and dance movies.

Think you know who April’s mystery child is? Send your best guess to musicschildren@thewholenote.com. Please provide your mailing address just in case your name is drawn!

Winners will be selected by random draw among correct replies received by April 20 2010.

March's Child