Volume 10 Issue 10 - July/August 2005

BAND Stand The commuting

BAND Stand The commuting flute's nightmare Most working musicians I know have similar recurring nightmares. They usually involve arrivi ng late for a gig, arriving without your instrument, go ing out on stage with the wrong clothes (or no clothes!), having to play music you've never seen before on the wrong instrument. .. the list is a lengthy one. I had one of those true-life gig nightmares happen to me this past weekend . I've been subbing on a show up in cottage country, and was booked on Saturday for an 8pm performance. I left downtown Toronto at 5:30, and started up the 427 . The trip from downtown takes about 90 minutes . As I got onto the 40 I, I noticed the battery light on my dashboard had come on. For those of you who aren't car savvy, this generally means that your electrical system is not charging your battery anymore. If you keep driving, the battery will run down, and the car will die . I knew that there was no way for me to rent a car after 6:00 on a by Merlin ,Williams Saturday, so I called my folks in Brampton, and they offered to loan me their car. I hopped onto the 407, and sped west to pick up their vehicle, hoping all the while that mine had enough juice to make it there. It did make it, and I transferred all of my gear into the new car, and got back onto the highway. Now the trip from Brampton takes an hour and three-quarters, based on previous experience. It was now 6:45 - Cljl.hour and fifteen minutes to shll.v time! I got stage management at the theatre on the phone and explained my pre- . dicament. The next hour and a quarter went by in a flash . I miraculously found myself pulling up to the theatre at about 10 minutes after the curtain went up . There's a dialogue sequence after the opening number, and I arrived just as they were starting the second orchestra number. I dread this particular piece, since it's the first flute entry in the show, and I usually spend about twenty minutes warming up on flute beforehand just to pull it off. I get up into the orchestra loft, out of breath, and get through the thing. Whew! During the next several numbers I filled in one of my section mates on my adventures . He was very sympathetic, but man­ aged to top my adventures. Just that afternoon, he had arrived at the gig without his instrument! I'm glad this is NOT a common occurrence for me . It's only the second time in ten years I've been late for a gig. Now if I could just· stop having that nightmare where I ~ how up and have to replace one of the actors, I'd feel MUCH better! Bandstand reader Charles Rolfe is a fellow columnist who writes for the International Military Music Society. Charles very kindly forwarded a copy of his summer concert listings to me to share with Wholenote readers. One of the things Mr. Rolfe has managed to get that I've always looked for is the complete series of concerts at the Couchiching Beach Aquatheatre in Orillia. This year's series features: the Metropolitan Silver Band- June 26, Orillia Wind Ensemble - July 3, Weston Silver Band - July 10, Barrie Concert Band -July 17 , Mississauga Pops Concert Band - July 24, Markham Concert Band - August 7, Northdale Concert Band - August 14 , Whitby Brass Band - August 21, Brampton Concert Band- August 28, and the final concert with the Orillia Silver Band on September 4. The Weston Silver Band and director are proud to announce their upcoming concert featuring The Young Ambassadors Brass Band of Great Britain. The concert will be held Sunday, August 14 at Weston Collegiate, 100 Pine Street, Toronto, Ontario at 7:30pm. The Northdale Concert Band Young Ambassadors Brass Band of Great Britain was formed in 1978 to re-unite former members of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain and fellow music students. Check out the Weston Silver Band' s website: www. westonsilverband.org for info. It's the time of year again when I start compiling all of the contact information for the annual listing of community bands in the September WholeNote. I need updates, even if it's just to say everything is the same as it was last year. You can check last year's list at www.thewholenote.com; it was in September 2004. I need the name of the group; rehearsal day , time and location; contact person; e-mail/ website address; and a list of instruments needed by the band. The Wholenote devotes a two page spread to this listing every year, and you should really take advantage of it if you want to reach out to prospective new members (musicians and audience!) for your group. As always, please take the time to check all -of the listings for a concert near you, and support your local community band . Woodwind doubler Merlin Williams is an Artist/Clinician for Jupiter Music Canada. If you would like an upcoming band event to be featured in the Bandstand column, feel free to contact Merlin by e-mail, merlinwilliams@sympatico. ca or phone 416-803-0275. You can also find him on the web at http:// www. merlin williams. com. !.-J~~HARKNETT Musical Services Ltd. MUSIC BOOKS BEST SELECTJON OF POPULAR & EDUCATIONAL MUSIC Piano · Guitar· Instrumental Brass - Woodwind - Mid-Town Store String Instruments- Guitar Buy direct from the Distributor 416-423-9494 AUTIIORIZED DEALER FOR: 943 Eglin ton Ave. E. (W. of Leslie) Armstrong, Artley, Besson, Beqge (Next door to. Robert Lowrey's Piano Experts) Boosey & Hawkes, Buffet, Conn Getzen, Jupiter, Keilwonh, King Main Store Ibanez Guitars, Scher! & Ruth String Inst. www.harknettrnusic.com 905-477-1141 2650 John Street Oust North of WWW.THEWHOLENOTE.COM ) ULY 1 -SEPTEMBER 7 2005

On OPERA Two at home and three within one day's drive July and August are a dry period in Ontario for opera lovers, and those longing for fully staged operas with full orchestra will have to seek them elsewhere. Nevertheless, there are still some local and nearby operatic activities to tide us over until the fall season begins. Primary among these are the productions of the Summer Opera Lyric Theatre and Research Centre (SOLT) under the guidance of General Director Guillermo Silva­ Marin. SOL Twas founded in 1988 with a mandate "to promote musical and dramatic education in Canada showcasing artists at all stages of development through a variety of innovative and challenging operatic repertoire". Of the three workshop productions on offer, one is Mozart's "The Magic Flute" with performances July 29, 30, August 3 and 6. The other two are rarities . First is "II Mondo della luna" ( 1777) by Franz Joseph Haydn on July 27, 31, August 3 and 6, followed by "Mignon" (1866) by Ambroise Thomas on July 30, August 2, 5 and 7. All three operas are perfo~med in English with piano accompaniment at the Robert Gill Theatre, 214 College St. (entrance on St. George Street). For tickets or information phone 416- 978-7986 or visit the website at www .solt.ca. by Christopher Hoile ABOVE: (L-R) Derek Kwan, Stewart Granger, Leticia Brewer, Michael Holderer, in SOLT's 2004 production of Ariadne auf Naxos BELOW: Roger Honeywell as Caesar in the COC's Ensemble Studio production ofGiulio Cesare in Egiuo. Photo: Michael Cooper. The eleventh season of the Altamira Summer Opera Concerts arrives in late August. COC General Director Richard Bradshaw conducts the .COC orchestra, members of the 2005 Ensemble Studio and guest soloists in highlights of upcoming productions. One person rumoured to be on the bill is Roger Honeywell, who will play Macduff in "Macheth" this fall. The concerts take place at Harbourfront's CIBC Concert Stage on August 30, August 31, and September 1 at 8pm. The concerts are free with unreserved general seating and attract approximately 10,000 people to Harbourfront each year. For more information call 416-363-6671 or visit the COC website at www.coc.ca. For those who don't much fancy flying nowadays, there are several opera festivals within a day's drive from Toronto. Prime among these is Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown, New York (June 30-August 23). As usual there are four productions. Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte" is directed by Tim Albery, who directed the COC's recent " Peter Grimes" and who will direct its "Gotterdammerung" in 2006. The production features Canadian tenor John Tessier as · lmeneo. Another production featuring Canadian talent is the double bill of Massenet's "Le Portrait de Manon" (1894) and Poulenc's "La Voix humaine" (1959) . Last year Opera Ontario was the first, as far as anyone can tell, to present these two as a double bill. It's heartening to see it taken up elsewhere. In the Massenet, baritone Theodore Baerg sings Des Grieux as he did for Opera Ontario and tenor Colin Ainsworth sings the role of Jean. The other two productions are Benjamin Britten's final opera "Death in Venice" (1973) and Donizetti's French version of "Lucia di Lammermoor" prepared for Paris in 1839 and not seen in North 1 America for over a century. For more information phone 607- 547-5704 or visit the website at www .glimmerglass. or g. Heading west, the season of Lyric Opera of Cleveland is already underway. The run of "The Barber of Seville" is over but still remaining are Jerry Bock's jewel of a musical "She Loves Me" (1963) on July 6, 9 and 10 and Philip Glass's chamber opera "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1988) on July 20, 23 and 24. The tradition at LOC is to have a picnic dinner at intermission. For information phone 216-685-5976 or visit www .lyricoperacleveland. or g. An hour south of Cleveland near Ohio's Mennonite country is Wooster, the home of the Ohio Light Opera (June 16-August 13). This is the only operetta festival in the world that presents works from the British, American and European traditions in repertory. In the final two weeks it is possible to see all eight productions in about seven days. The standard works this year are Gilbert and Sullivan's "Iolanthe", Johann Strauss, Jr. 's " Die Fledermaus" and Mitch Leigh's musical "Man of La Mancha". Joining these are a number of rarities -a double bill of G&S's "The Sorcerer" (1877) with Offenbach's "The Island of Tulipatan" (1868), "A Soldier's Promise" (1911) by Emmerich Kalman, "Maytime" (1917) by Sigmund Romberg, "The White Horse Inn" (1930) by Ralph Benatzky and the world premiere of "A Friend of Napoleon" by Robert Ward, best known for his opera "The Crucible", to a libretto by the late OLO Artistic Director James Stuart. For more information phone 330-263-2345 or visit their website at http:// olo.wooster.edu. Enjoy the summer! SPECIAL SERIES Oll'ER See all 3 operas for .only Offer ends Mon. July II at S pm Call 416-922-2912 WWW. THEWHOLENOTE.COM