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Volume 11 Issue 4 - December 2005

  • Text
  • Toronto
  • December
  • Theatre
  • January
  • Jazz
  • Choir
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  • Musical
  • Orchestra
  • Ensemble

MUSICAL LIFE: GRACE

MUSICAL LIFE: GRACE NOTES continued The Wallace Laughton Award for Post-Secondary Ensembles: University of Western Ontario Singers (London), dir. Gerald Neufeld. The Board, staff and members of the Toronto Musicians' Association sends musical p,,,-,,_.-.:> The Wilfred Harvey Award for Small Ensembles: Lisgar Collegiate String Ensemble (Ottawa). dir.Trudy Bradley. www.omea.on.ca, www.musiceducationonline.org/cmea/ NYO C Eliminates Tuition for 2006 Session The National Youth Orchestra of Canada an· nounced the elimination of tuition fees for their 2006 session. Now entering its 46th year, the NYOC is dedicated to the discovery and training of young Canadian musicians. The elimination of tuition fees marks a significant achieve· men! in the NYOC's mission of providing the best possible orchestral training for youth based solely on merit rather than financial circumstances. The NYOC is currently accepting applications for auditions for the 2006 Orchestra at www.nyoc.org. The deadline for applica· !ions is December 9, 2005. Rolling Stones sponsor first-ever Musician "Teacher of the Year" Award First Recipient Receives ,000 and a Trip to the JUNO Awards! The deserving recipient of this exciting award is Norman Mcintosh, esteemed music teacher at Confederation Secondary School in Val Caron, Ontario. This new initiative of MusiCan, the CARAS Music Education Program, recognizes dedicated music teachers who work diligently to keep music alive for young Canadians. The Award pays tribute to the accomplishments of one individual teacher who has affected students' lives while contributing to the advancement of community music. Nominees must exemplify the Musi Can mandate to enlighten, empower and elevate. For information on the Musi Can Teacher of the Year Award: www.carasonline.ca GRACE NOTES welcomes brief information from individuals and organisations whose initiatives make more music more accessible to more people. Please share what you know about discounted ticketing, outreach projects, donations, scholarships, and other acts of musical philanthropy. musicallife@the wholenote.com Season's Greetings to all WholeNote readers, and we encourage all to attend concerts, clubs, theatres, and all the many musical offerings of the season. We also encourage you to attend performances year round to help support the extraordinary quality and diversity of musical offerings in the city . We thank you, our audience, for your support in 2005, and wish all a Happy New Year full of music and happiness. Toronto Musicians' Association presents "Rhythmody" The Music Education Committee is working on continuing to present our highly successful rhythm basics program in schools, primarily to grades 6, 7 and 8. Our primary goal is to help provide increased skill levels in music when students reach the Grade 9 program. The Committee believes that skills with rhythm are a basic requirement that would benefit from more support and a specific program in this age group. Over the past year or more, under the direction of musician/educator Jane Fair, a group of rhythm specialists has developed three approaches to rhythm which are fun, lively, and offer ways for teachers and students to understand rhythm as an innate skill. The approaches taken by our facilitators can be used as a warm up in later classes, as a change of pace, or as a full review of rhythm skills. The group works as a team integrating one set of approaches with the next and developing an 'immersion' which is an excellent support to the work of the music teacher. Please contact Jane Fair, M Music Ed, at janefair@sympatico.ca for further information. MA'RJV'RIE SPARKS VVICE STUDIV /.fARJORIE SPARKS, SOPRANO B./.fUS. B. EV. CLASSICAL TfCffNIQU£ PRIVATE VOICE LESSONS AT ALL LEVELS INSTRUCTIONS FOR UNIVERSfTY AUDITIONS RCM EXAMS, COMPETITIONS AND PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANC ES. FREQUENT STUDIO RECITALS. Studio Locations: 19 Ravine Park Cr., Scarborough 175 St. Clair Ave. W., Toronto Tel: 416-282-7460 E-mail: mheitshu@sympatico.ca 70 WWW. TH EWHOLENOTE.COM Toronto Musicians' Association News compiled and edited by Brian Blain Richard Moore Instrument bank begins to play Do you have an instrument you would like to lend or donate to the Toronto Musicians' Association for use by a deserving student? Do you know of a student needing an instrument? We do have immediate requests for a Bflat clarinet, and a cello, if you can help. We have been able to match a student with a trombone through the Hannaford Street Junior Band - many thanks to David Archer for his help with that. We have also been given three violins, a full size, a half size and an 1/8 size, to lend. Thanks to Johann Lotter and Ludi Pollak who have been helping out with the repairs. We are most grateful. If you can lend an instrument, or can direct us to an instrument or a deserving student, contact Corkie Davis at corkie.davis@ sympatico.ca We are meeting with Kiwanis and Second Line Music to cooperate in a mentor/ instrument lending program for students who need encouragement. The program is currently named Music To My Ears and is aimed at at- risk youth. The organizers are very ambitious and active, and we look forward to participating in some great results. We hope to have more on that in the next few issues. Toronto Music Expo: The Toronto Musicians' Association was a Show Partner for the initial Toronto Music Expo! "Everything Elderly Musician volunteers wanted! 1\eurosci"'.'1tsts fro:n The Reseal·cr. Div:::;ion ofBaycrE.stCcntrc. arE. investigating tLe :lTtpacts of lif"', lor;g ·Yit..s :·~a1 expe:

BooK Shelf by Pamela Margles I try ... but I simply can't cover every worthy book that comes out. But here are a few I don't want to miss. . I haven't had a chance to see the new edition of The Rough. Gwde ~o Classical Music (Rough Guides). But this is usually the. most mterestmg music guide around, offering sensible recording suggestions. Visual Music: Synaesthesia in Art and Music Since 1900 (Tham~s & !'ludson), the illustrated catalogue of an exhibition on the direct relationship between abstract art and music, especially intrigues me. And I woul? be very excited to receive Company of Pianos by Richard ~urnett (Fmchcocks Press), the new illustrated catalogue of the col.lectlon of one of the most delightfully eccentric museums in the world, Fmchcoc~s. I must admit I failed utterly with Blair Tindall's much-praised Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Dmgs and Classical Music (Atlantic) .. qust couldn't get far enough into her self-serving saga of exploits m the world of classical music to figure out why I should care. . Do let us know if there is a book you think others would en Joy. And if you have comments on anything you have read here, by all means share them with us. With Billie By Julia Blackburn Pantheon 367 pages; .00 British writer Julia Blackburn's book is based on a series of interviews with key people in Billie Holiday's life. They were made by a woman named Linda Kuehl, who, after failing to turn them into a biography, committed suicide in 1979. After struggling to shape Kuehl's disorganized but brilliant interviews into a narrative, Blackburn, fortunately, opted for 'a documentary in which people are free to tell their own stories about Billie'. She describes what she heard on the tapes, points out the contradictions, and skillfully supplements them with new material . There is violence and cruelty here, but always directed towards Holiday, never from her. Throughout, she remains a magnetic, spellbinding presence, and, best of all, a great musician. Pianist Bobby Henderson says, 'you could go anywhere and she'd be there, man. Perfect time and perfect diction.' We get the genesis of Strange Fmit, and the price Holiday paid for singing it. Her duplicitous husband Louis McKay's nasty diatribe turns our stomach. We even hear from two federal DECEMBER 1 2005 - FEBR UARY 7 2006 narcotics agents who hounded her beyond comprehension. This is a remarkable book. Blackburn brings an authentic Billy Holiday to life - as a person and, most importantly, as the incomparable musician she was. Calling on the Composer: A Guide to European Composer Houses and Museums Julie Anne and Stanley Sadie Yale University Press 449 pages, photos; .00 US WWW. THEWHOLENOTE.COM The title of this guidebook is deftly worded to allow buildings where a composer never even set foot, like the extraordinary Schoenberg Centre in Vienna. But the most exciting entries tend to be actual homes of composers. It's one thing to read that Verdi slept right beside his desk and piano, another to see it. The necessary omission of Massenet's chateau in France, recently closed to visitors by the family, underlines the ' fragile legacy' of these sites. But to be able to include Handel House, a wonderful new museum which the authors helped establish in Handel's London home, shows what effort it takes to reclaim and maintain these sites. Entries are listed by composer. There are maps, bibliographies and a fine index. The only disappointment is that the rather dark and grainy photos fail to offer much detail. There would be no-one better in the world to do this book than the intrepid husband-and-wife team of musicologist-critics, Stanley and Julie Anne Sadie. Sadly, this turned out to be the last book Stanley Sadie worked on, since he died this past year. But, happily, this splendid book of treasures serves as a fitting tribute to a life passionately devoted to music. London: A Musical Gazetteer By Lewis Foreman and Susan Foreman Yale University Press 384 pages, illustrated; paper .00 us 'The music lover is more generously provided for in London than in any other city in the world,' write Lewis and Susan Foreman in their guide to the musical riches of London They describe sites first by function - theatres and halls, churches, music schools and museums, graves and memorials, recording studios and publishers - and then by musicians associated with them. They include walking tours, and a list of compositions that relate to London. Their dispassionate, trustworthy voices are complemented by delightful interpolations like an interview with a composer who lived near the Crystal Palace before it burned down in 1936. Mistakes and omissions are inevitable, yet by 'Jonathan Miller's gangland 1l Trovatore' at the ENO, I suspect they mean Rigoletto. In discussing the new British Library, why not mention the extraordinary display of music manuscripts and books, well worth a trip in itself? The Foreman's have amassed such an amazing amount of material, I would not dream of going to London without this book. Though heavy, it is well-bound, and clearly laid out, with an excellent index, splendid pictures from historical prints and documents, and a useful bibliography. Words on Music: Essays in Honour of Andrew Porter on the Occasion of his 75th Birthday edited by David Rosen and Claire Brook Pendragon Press 360 pages, illustrated; .00 us Andrew Porter writes the most elegant and lucid music criticism around, so it is appropriate that each essay in this collection published in his honour upholds his standards. Apart from affectionate tributes by Stanley Sadie and Joseph Kerman, these papers mainly deal with opera, since it consumes so much of Porter's attention. The most compelling relate their subjects, and even their methods, to Porter's talents as editor, translator, scholar, librettist and opera director. Peter Branscombe surveys the literary legacy of The Magic Flute. Julian Budden discusses Don Carlos, whose libretto Porter has translated. David Drew's critical observations on Kurt Weill's early operas inspire the Porterian dictum, 'The mood of the hour, the bearing of an audience from moment to moment, these are not, in the normal course of events, scientifically verifiable factors; yet they are legitimate concerns of the responsible and disinterested reviewer.' Jeremy Noble reports on Porter's protests on behalf of 'imaginative common sense and the composer's intentions' in opera productions, efforts which involve 'fighting a losing battle against directoral arrogance and inanity." Appendices list Porter's writings and translations. There is, unfortunately, no index. But the texts are well documentated, and enlivened by three brief musical works dedicated to Porter by Kerman, George Perle and Elliott Carter. Andrew Porter is directing 7he Magic Flute for the Canadian Opera Company on December16, 18 and 20 in the MacMillan Theatre. 71

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