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Volume 12 - Issue 6 - March 2007

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  • Theatre
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  • Toronto
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  • April
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  • Violin

... the very singular

... the very singular Mary Lou Fallis ...come to the student as one who has gone ahead, a scout who has surveyedthe terrain, who can talk to them about what it's like. Thenthey have to do the work, they are actually going to make the forayinto the unknown territory . It's a privilege to go on that journey withpeople who are serious and who want to go with you. It's so wonderfulif you find yourselfon the same wavelength as one of your students.There's nothing like it. It's just as much of a high as performing!"'Tm going to Montreal this weekend to hear someone I've beenworking with do the play called " Glorious" about Florence FosterJenkins. This singer, Rosemary Dunsmore, studied with me at YorkUniversity about twenty-five years ago and came back to me for helppreparing the part."On March 23 Mary Lou will be MC of, and a performer in, the memorialconcert in John Weinzweig's honour at Glenn Gould Studio."I just had a meeting with them (the organizing committee) yesterdayat the Canadian Music Centre. I hope the event will reflect the twinklethat was always in John's eye! I didn't know this, but when you'rean Order of Canada member, as John was, you have to talk aboutyour memorial service before you go, particularly when it's going tobe broadcast on CBC. David Jaeger told me yesterday that when Johnwas in the hospital shortly before he died, David asked him how hesaw it and what he wanted, and John said that he wanted me to hostit. I was so touched.""My association with John goes back to when he wrote a privatecollection piece for me, that I recorded for Centrediscs. Thirty yearsago I went up to his cottage in Northern Ontario and worked on itwith him, and now I'm doing it at his memorial service. I have a realfeeling of privilege to beconnected with the Canadianmusical establishment.I coached withHarry Somers theTwelve Miniatures beforeit was ever publishedand did stuff withJohn Beckwith. All thesepeople were there when Iwas in school. I'm privilegedto be part of that.""It's also funny - I'mstarting to feel like theceremonial soprano, theone they bring out to hostand sing on ceremonialoccasions, like this and Bruce [Ubukata] and Stephen's [Ralls] recentAldeburgh Connection twenty-fifth, and a recent Out of theCold benefit!"(At this point in the conversation we joked about a new persona,the "ceremonial prima donna. ")"I am a very fortunate person at this point in my life, and reallyfeel very grateful, because it feels as if a lot of things are comingfull circle and yet there is still so much to do, so many things I wantto do, and there's no need to retire from teaching. Look at GretaKraus - she was still teaching at the Faculty when she was ninetytwo!"You can see Mary Lou Fallis in action on Bathroom Divas, Saturdaysat 9:00 or Tuesdays at 8:00 on Bravo and at the John Weinzweig memorialconcert at Glenn Gould Studio, March 23 at 8:00.A Russian OdysseySunday, April 1S, 2007, 7:30 p.m.Jane Mallett TheatreJames Sommerville, guest conductorAndrew Burashko, piano soloistJoin us for an evening of soaring melodies and rousing brass as wecelebrate the magic and mystery of Russia. Making his debut on theHSSB podium is James Sommerville, Principal Horn of the BostonSymphony and newly appointed Artistic Director of the HamiltonPhilharmonic. Pianist Andrew Burashko will perform LarysaKuzmenko's Concerto for Piano and Brass Band, commissioned by theHSSB. Other featured works include music from from the balletGayane by Khachaturian and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibitionin a stunning brass band version by Elgar Howarth.This concert is generously sponsored by NTN Bearing Corporation of Canada NiiN"Powerful and versatile"John Terauds, The TorontoStarCall the St. Lawrence Centre Box Office416-366-7723 or 1-800-708-6754or book on-line www.stlc.comVisit us at www.hssb.caGet set for the HSSB's gala fundraising evening at the Royal CanadianYacht Club's Toronto Islands Clubhouse, Monday June 18th, 2007. Ticketsand information available by calling the HSSB's office: 416-425-2874OYAMAHALLong & McQl.l

I . 0 . Musical Diaryby Colin EatockMozart in the TundraRecently, I got around to reading Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs andClassical Music. This book, by New York oboist Blair Tindall, causedquite a stir when it was published a couple of years ago, with itsshocking allegations of corruption in the Big Apple's freelance classicalmusic business. As I finished this sordid chronicle of drug addictionand sexual exploitation, I found myself wondering what a similarexpose about the freelance classical scene in Toronto would reveal.But of course Toronto is not New York, which leads me to suspectthat the results of such an investigation might end up sounding alittle silly - much like the (purely fictional) account below.Early One Morning: After weeks of getting nowhere, trying topenetrate the murky demi-monde of Toronto's classical music world,I received an anonymous phone call, telling me when and where Icould find a shady man I'd been hoping to meet. And so, at thecrack of dawn, I found myself in an unmarked van behind RoyThomson Hall, talking to Mr. X, purveyor of "substances" todowntrodden, stressed-out, freelance musicians."Times aren't what they used to be, for a guy in mybusiness," he began. "Not like the good old days, with all those bigmusicals in town. Those shows ran for years, and used to drivemusicians crazy. (He himself played the viola-trombone book inseveral pit orchestras.) The players needed something to get throughnight after night of the same mindless music. So I was there to helpthem - for the right price, of course."With a conspiratorial wink, he opened a French horn case:out spilled a veritable cornucopia of medications. "I've got aspirn,cough drops, lip balm, foot powder, hemorrhoid cream - whateveryou want.""But couldn't I buy this stuff across the counter of anypharmacy?" I asked."And what about this?" He poured a small quantity ofcrystalline powder into my hand. "Go ahead, try it. It's pure."Cautiously, I touched my tongue to the crystals, andexperienced a strangely familiar tingling sensation, and a sweet,fruity flavour. "This is the fizzy candy I used to get as a kid!" Icried in recognition. "I didn't know it was still available.""It's not - in this country," replied Mr. X, with a furtiveglance in his rearview mirror. "I bring it in from South America.Believe me, a line of this stuff is just the ticket to get even the mostbummed-out musician through Phantom of the Opera."Late One Night: The taboo subject of sexual politics in Toronto'sclassical music business is not, understandably, a topic many are willingto discuss. But my discreet inquiries finally unearthed a brave butfrightened musician who, after years of gigging all over town, waswilling to tell all. I met Ms. Y in a late-night cafe."There was this conductor," she began, softly. "At theaudition, he was real nice. I guess he didn't notice that when heasked for the Bach excerpt, I played the Gershwin by mistake. Thenhe told me I could play my heckelphone in his Mozart concert - if Igave him a backrub.""And did you?"Overcome by shame and grief, Ms. Y burst into tears. "Inever felt so used in my life! And it tuns out that Mozart didn't evenwrite for the heckelphone!" As she sobbed uncontrollably, I quietlyslipped away into the night.As I said, Toronto is not New York. And maybe it's just as well!**Colin Eatock is a Toronto based composer and freelance writer whofrequently contributes to the Globe and Mail, and other publications.NURHAN ARMANMUSIC DIRECTORToronto':i Chamber OrchestraWINTER DREAMSJULIAN MILKIS, ClarinetistSaturday, March 10, 8 pm , , $12Grace Church-on-the-Hill, 300 LonsdaleBRAHMS Clarinet Quintet orchestral arr.SHOSTAKOVICH Sinfonia op. 122aBRAHMS Liebeslieder Waltzessinfoniatoronto.com416 499 0403SPRING SONGSMARIO CARBOTTA, FlutistSaturday, April 14 , 8 pm , , $12Grace Church-on-the-Hill , 300 LonsdaleLISZT Angelus!MICHAEL CONWAY BAKER Fl ute ConcertoMERCADANTE Flute Concerto in E minor---._\ BEETHOVEN SerenadeSUNSHINEALINE KUTAN, SopranoSaturday, May 5 , 8 pm , , $12Grace Church-on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsda leBRIAN CHERNEY IlluminationsBRITTEN Les illuminationsDVORAK Sextet, orchestral versionMozart in JeansFamily concerts featuringorchestra and soloistsSaturdays 3:30 pmMar 3 - Vivaldi!Mar 31 - Phoebe Tsang, Liana Berube, ViolinistsApr 28 - Etsuko Kimura , ViolinistWalmer Church, 188 Lowther , , $12Strauss el SwingJL ((Jiennese ~Mask,.§£

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