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Volume 12 - Issue 3 - November 2006

  • Text
  • Theatre
  • Toronto
  • November
  • Jazz
  • Arts
  • Musical
  • Orchestra
  • December
  • Glenn
  • Gould

Quoolibetby Allan

Quoolibetby Allan PulkerK-W bluesOnce again a symphony orchestrais in the news because of its financialproblems, this time, theKitchener-Waterloo Symphony.What we are being told is that theOrchestra needs .5 million by theend of October if it is to continue.It is a curious state of affairs: likea bolt out of the blue, one of thecities' principal arts organizations hasgone from business-as-usual to astate of desperate insolvency. Thiswas duly noted in today's Kitchener­Waterloo Record: "the symphonydidn't allow much time ... when itoutlined its desperate financial straitswith such urgency that it still gallsmany people." (October 26)General Manager, DanielDonaldson' s explanation, quoted inthe Oct 26 Globe and Mail, didn'treally make sense of the situation:" .. . the urgency of the appeal wasdue to an unexpected plunge in theorchestra's annual earned revenue."Later he is quoted as saying" ... the KWS's problems are mainlydue to the same waning of publicinterest in live classical music thathas challenged other larger orchestras".(Meanwhile in the same fiveyears since 2001 when KWS "audiencesbegan to thin" , York University'smusic department has quadrupledin size and WholeNote's listingshave grown from around 350per issue to around 550 per issue.)On the brighter side, The Globewent on to say that the orchestra has. 6-million in pledges so far, noneyet from local corporations which canbe expected to chip in but need alittle time to work out the details.Let us hope the orchestra survivesthe crisis and turns to the future invigorated.The "waning interest,greying heads in the audience" approachis defeatist, and flies in theface of at least some of the evidence.Meanwhile back in Toronto theToronto Symphony Orchestra'sseason is in high gear. If you havechildren or grandchildren I recommendtaking them to hear one of itsperformances of Saint-Saens' Carnivalof the Animals on November 4& 5. On November 15 & 16 theever popular Sir Andrew Davis willconduct. On November 22, 23 &25 BBC Philharmonic conductor,Gianandrea Noseda will conduct theCanadian premiere of "The Rider onthe White Horse" by SofiaGubaidulina, Rimsky-Korsakov'sScheherazade and Schumann's AMinor Piano Concerto played byAnton Kuerti. Perhaps the Russiancontent on the program has somethingto do with the fact that Nosedahas worked extensively in that countryas the Principal Guest Conductorat the Mariinsky Theatre in St.Petersburg. The TSO then continuesits programming of music byRussian composers with two pairsof concerts, "Images of Russia" onNovember 29 & 30, conducted byYannick Nezet-Seguin and "RussianMasterworks" on December 6 & 7conducted by Peter Oundjian.On Sunday, November 26 RoyThomson Hall will present a per -formance by the London PhilharmonicOrchestra, conducted byKurt Masur. They will playBeethoven's Eroica Symphony andSibelius' Violin Concerto in D Minorwith soloist, Sarah Chang. It'sbeen 35 years since they were here.York AccoladesYork University's music program isa sleeping giant that has been growingat a furious pace, its enrolmenthaving quadrupled to 505 studentsin the past six years. York's ambitious"Accolade" project, a 280, 000square foot building with facilitiesfor music and dance, was openedlast spring and is now fully operational.The building houses manyteaching and rehearsal studios ofvarious sizes, four large rehearsalstudios suitable for large ensembles,faculty offices, an acoustical gem ofa recital hall, a theatre with a pit anda 500-seat screening room/lecturehall. While the new facility shouldbe adequate well into the future italready appears to be operating atalmost full capacity. In mid- OctoberI toured the building and foundit alive with music, everything froma lesson on a Chopin piano concerto,to Indian drumming, a lesson on theuse of filters in recording technology,choral conducting, medievalmusic, salsa percussion, jazz standardsand the interpretation of Schubertlieder.While there I spoke at some lengthCatherine Robbinwith the department's new chair,Catherine Robbin and with Facultyof Fine Arts publicity and specialprojects manager, Brigitte Kleer, whocommented that the music department,formerly housed in four buildings,none of which "was built formusic ... and were meant to be temporary,"literally outgrew its space."It's fabulous, " she added, "that theyfinally have a space that's made formusic .... " She went on to point outthat a major benefit of the new spaceis that music students are in proximityto dance, film and visual arts students,creating new opportunities forinterdisciplinary collaborations - studentmusicians creating the music forstudent dancers, student composerswriting scores for student films etc.The Music Department' s newchair, Catherine Robbin, is wellknownin Canadian music circles forher 30-year career as an opera singerand recitalist. She began teaching atYork a mere six years ago at theCONTINUES ON PAGE 61Violins, violas, cellos, and bowsComplete line of strings and accessoriesExpert repairs and rehairsCanada's largest stock of string musicFast mail order serviceTHE GLENN GOULD FOUNDATIONCALL FOR APPLICATIONSGENERAL MANAGERThe Glenn Gould Foundation is seeking a fulltimeGeneral Manager.The successful candidate for this contractposition will be an enthusiastic and well-organizedself-starter who can initiate and complete multipletasks, and will possess the following experience:at least 3 years' arts administration and knowledgeof the Canadian cultural community (preferably inmusic); working with volunteer boards andcommittees; fund-raising and donor relations;marketing in the cultural field; and a commitmentto education and outreach. Knowledge of GlennGould's body of work and legacy and an ability towork in both English and French would be a strongasset.This position will be for an initial two-year renewableterm. For a more detailed job description,please see our posting at www.glenngould.ca.18 WWW. TH EWHOLEN O TE.COM N OVEMBER 1 - D ECEMBER 7 2006

RIAS KAMMERCHOR BERLIN:HOMAGE TO GUBAIDULINAwith Studio de musique anciennede Montreal fr chamber orchestraFriday, November 24, 2006 @ 8pmNorth American premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina's )etztlmmer Schnee (as part of the Gubaidulina Festival), incelebration of her 75th birthday. Works by Vito Zuraj,Brian Cherney (North American premiere), Klaas deVriesand music from the Renaissance.$.· .•· I~t~·Auswti rtigo~ Arnt ~ 1111,L!.t Canada Trust l'/tl~ic6DET HE·INSTITUT@t:o;,r h 'jrri.t

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