TMATORONTO MUSICIANS' ASSOCIATIONNEWS ROUNDUPby Brian BlainThe TMA Instrument Bankcontinues to collect, refurbish anddistribute instruments. We havethree violins, two trumpets and atrombone to lend, which we would1 ike a student (of any age) to makeuse of. If you have an instrumentto lend or donate, we will pick itup, evaluate condition, repair, andoffer it to a student. You can helpus give the gift of music to anyonewho would like play. Please be intouch with Corkie Davis atcorkie.davis@sympatico.ca.TMA Music Education Committeeis presenting programs to teach thebasics of rhythm to children, fromthe very young to high school age.This fun way to approach basicrhythm skills can be offered as aseries, or as individual sessions.The program incorporates movementand world cultural aspectswithin each session. Our next publicsession is at the North YorkCentral Library on March 15, 2pmto 3pm featuring master Africandrummer Waleed Abdulhamid.Bring the family to an interesting,unusual and informative take onRhythm! Admission is free.Thanks to the North York CentralLibrary and Second Line Musicfor their support of this program.For other events or to inquireabout the program, contactJane Fair atjanefair@sympatico.caScholarships Offered: Studentsare often short of funds. TheAmerican Federation of Musicianshas a scholarship programme thatmay be of some help to someoneenrolling for fall 2007 at a collegeor university for music performance(Canada or U.S.). The MusicPerformance Fund Scholarship isfor students planning to major inmusic performance, or music educationwith a minor on an instrument,at a college or university.(Voice students are not eligible.)Applicants are not required to bemembers of the TMA or theAFM. Four scholarships of 0each are available. The officialdeadline is March 1 for this round,so it may well be past by the timeyou read this but it's worth contactingthe TMA office to find outmore about the programme. Contactthe Toronto Musicians' AssociationMPF Committee, (416)421-1020 x230 or emailtrustfund@torontomusicians.org20SOME THING NewBY }ASON VAN EYKI'm sorry to say that I have been absent from Torontoconcerts the last week or so. As you may remember fromlast month's column, there was a range of interesting eventslined up in the fist half of February. My only excuse wasthat I had to travel out West to experience a few days ofthe Winnipeg New Music Festival. It was my first timeattending this prestigious national new music showcase,which offered a range of surprises.The festival opened on February lQ'h with a concertdedicated to highly accessible large orchestral works fromthe two composers-in-residence - Toronto's own ChristosHatzis and Philadelphian Jennifer Higdon. The followingnight, Hatzis and Higdon were joined by Winnipegcomposer Patrick Carrabre, Cuban composer GuidoLopez-Gavilan (in spirit if not in body) and local earlycareer composer Andrew Balfour for a New Music inNew Places I Two New Hours live broadcast from theGarrick Centre - a converted movie theatre cum kitschyrock 'n roll venue.Cuban choral rhumbas, Cree-influenced song, MiddleEastern solos and Inuit throat-singing all melded into newmusical voices that brought an appreciative full house toits feet. But the highlight of the festival's first half was aconcert titled "Scratch the Surface". WSO's new MusicDirector, Alexander Mickelthwaite, led the Orchestrathrough some excellent music, including Paul Frehner'sClaude Vivier Award-winning work Lila (in its best interpretationI have heard to date) and Nicole Lizee's remarkableconcerto for DJ and orchestra King Kong andFay Wray. The evening was rounded out by the CMCPrairie Region Emerging Composer Award presentationto the very charming Borisa Sabljic for his work Deliverance,a stylistically slippery orchestral piece that meanderedfrom requiem to waltz across to folk song only tofade away.Coinciding with the festival was the Canadian NewMusic Network's inaugural conference. The focus of twointense days of panels, presentations and plenary sessionswas "New Music and the Media: Getting the MessageOut". While much was made of massive changes to themainstream media - predominantly the major newspapersand CBC Radio Two's new programming directions -there was also equal discussion of alternative media, newmedia outlets, and the impact of new technologies on musicdistribution and promotion. Perhaps one of the most salientpoints to come out of the conference was made byWalter Boudreau, Artistic Director of Montreal's SMCQ,who urged us all to switch our perspective away frompromoting the "product" of new music to one of advancingthe human story, nurturing a sense of discovery andencouraging audiences to stimulate their curiousity (a pointmade in last month's column).Returning to Toronto, there is easily just as much tocelebrate here as there was out West. In fact, many of thismonth's concerts are taking the act of celebration as theirpoint of entry into a wealth of very interesting programming.Continuum Contemporary Music will showcase itsown brand of urban music at the Music Gallery on March4' 11 before heading off to the Montreal New Music Festival.On the programme is James Rolfe's 2006 Jules Legerprize-winning work raW, which he describes as "filteringJ. S. Bach's Second Brandenburg Concerto through BobMarley's War, Burning Spear' s The Invasion and JohnPhilip Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever. raWwas writtenduring the buildup to the American invasion of Iraq."WWW. THEWHOLENOTE.COM------< T.;;Tribute to "the Dean", March 23Alongside Rolfe's distinct downtown voice willsit 2002 Jules Leger winner Yannick Plamodons'Autoportrait sur Times Square and MartinArnold's Moonlight on the Bluff(which appearson Continuum's excellent Sea ChangeCD), among others. For those unaware, theJules Leger prize is Canada's largest for newchamber music, and a truly prestigious kudo toany Canadian composer, given that there areonly 24 in existence so far. Two Leger worksmakes for a programme not to be missed. Finddetails online at www.continuummusic.org orcall 416-924-4945.On March 9'h Arraymusic percussionist RickSacks will celebrate some of the best solo percussionwriting in Canada with his Ten PlanetsCD release concert. Sacks will fill the MusicRoom at Hart House with works by Michael J.Baker, Linda C. Smith, Rodney Sharman, BarbaraMonk Feldman, and two of his own creations."Each piece contains an interplay betweenlarge space and a more intimate, poetic activity",states Sacks. But, as a collection, the workscapture "the extremes of percussion music fromgentle lyricism to explosive energy." The 8pmconcert will be preceded by a composers' talk.Get full details online at www .arraymusic.comor by phone at 416-532-3019.The following day New Music Concertswill host the Penderecki Quartet in a progammecelebrating works written specifically for thegroup, including two world premieres. OnMarch 10' 11 at the Music Gallery, the Penderecki'swill perform Omar Daniel's Annunciationand London-based Canadian Laurie Radford'sEverything we see in the Sky, both composedfor quartet and electronics. Rounding outthe programme are works by Western Canadiancomposer Piotr Grella-Mozejko and LAbasedCanuck Veronika Krausas. Find detailsat www.musicgallery.org or call 416-204-1080.On March 23'z~f;;"0ii
indelible foundation for musicalculture in Canada and for Canadianmusic around the world. Thisspecial programme, hosted by Canada's" Primadonna" Mary LouFallis, will feature highlights fromWeinzweig's rich chamber musiccatalogue interspersed with storiesand remembrances from thosetouched by his life and work. Detailsare available at www.glenngouldstudio.cbc.ca or 416-205-5555.Finally, for those who wish toget a taste of the Winnipeg festival'sexcitement, Continuum willclose out the month with "Glitch",a concert of audiovisuals in collisionwith chamber music. TheMarch 29 1 h programme will featuretwo works by Nicole Lizee thatmash up old low technologies, likeEtch-A-Sketch and Simon handheldgame, with percussion and ensemble.Full details are online atContinuum's website (as above).But I would regret closing withoutmaking quick mention of anApril 1" concert showcasing a cadreof great Canadian compositionaltalent. The Music Gallery's"Toronto-Montreal ComposerProject" sees them partner withTheatre la Chapelle to presentworks by Martin Arnold, AllisonCameron, Peter Hatch, GideonKim, Bruce Mather and JoshThorpe. Find out more through theMusic Gallery (as above).So come out and celebrate music'screative dimensions. Discovercurious new connections via something new.(Jason van Eyk is the CanadianMusic Centre's Ontario RegionalDirector. He can be reached at416-961-6601 x. 207 orjvaneyk@musiccentre.ca).NEW MUSIC QUICK PICKSnow available online atwww .thewholenote.comThe Coalition of New MusicPresenters of TorontopresentsNEW MUSIC QUICK PICKS-- all the NEW MUSIC that 'sfitto print, excerpted fromWhole Note's listings;just a couple of clicks gives youall the concerts you wantwith a whole lot less wading!Just go towww.thewholenote.com andfollow the QUICK PICK link.M ARCH 1 - A PR IL 7 2007Jazz Notesby Jim GallowayForward MarchThe past couple of articles have highlighted some ofthe problems facing musicians these days and so Ithought "enough of gloom and doom, find somethingpositive to say."If I think back over the last few weeks, strangelyenough, one of the good things I remember tookplace at a memorial service for Dougie Richardson,a popular Toronto saxophone player who passedaway last month.An overflow audience of friends and well wishersgathered, including, of course, a large numberof fellow musicians. The proceedings were conductedby writer Barry Callahan, a close friend of Dougie,and the moving musical tributes were directed bykeyboardist Washington Savage. There was a warmvibe that permeated the church, making the afternoona celebration rather than a sad occasion.Now here is another good news story about ourcommunity.Since 1999, thousands of tickets have been givenaway to young people so that they may experiencelive music at Roy Thomson Hall and Massey Hall.through a programme called Share the Music. It isan arts and education outreach series that providestickets for selected concerts to underserved youth inour community, between the ages of 8 to 18.Introducing young people to the experience of livemusic, especially when it is performed by worldfamous artists at the height of their career, has avalue that cannot be overestimated. My own experienceof hearing a live band for the first time is etchedin my memory and opened not only my ears, butmy inner self to a world of magic. I can vividlyremember sitting there, transfixed by the sounds comingfrom five musicians on the stageof the public hall in the small townwhere I grew up . These were notfamous performers, but together theybecame so much more than five individualsand created a musical spellwhich has held me ever since.So imagine what it must be like tohear Wynton Marsalis and The JazzAt Lincoln Centre Orchestra as yourfirst live music experience. Well, thatwill be the case for some fortunatestudents from Earl Haig/ClaudeWatson, Rosedale Heights School ofthe Arts, Regent Park School ofMusic, Danforth Tech, Eastern Techand Don Mills CI. on March 14th atMassey Hall when the orchestra willpresent "Songs We Love", their currentproject which highlights arrangementsof some of the great standardsongs from the golden age of popularmusic, among them April In Paris, arranged by Wild Bill Davis, GilEvans' chart for Summertime andother gems such as Stardust and HowHigh The Moon.It is the only Canadian date on a 14city, two week North American tour.Marsalis and the LCJOAs part of the Share The Music programme thereare also pre concert educational activities. These takethe form of a lecture/demonstration followed by aquestion and answer session, hosted by local performers,which help to enhance the concert experiencefor the students. Prior to the March 14th concert,pianist Mark Eisenman and yours truly JimGalloway will be giving the demonstration in thedownstairs lounge at Massey Hall and we'll be talkingabout the structure of, and playing some of, thegreat popular standards.It is a really worthwhile community service whichhelps to awaken children's curiosity, create awarenessof ways of listening, seeing and thinking andthe Corporation of Massey Hall and Roy ThomsonHall is to be congratulated. These events do not happenwithout support and sponsorship for the ShareThe Music programme is provided by Sun Life Financialand also supported by The Ontario TrilliumFoundation. It is money well spent if it can opendoors and give some inspiration. It helps to sustainthe music, build tomorrow's audiences and maybeeven create some future musicians.After all, I remember that night long ago in thePublic Hall of a small town in Scotland.As always, support the music by making part ofyour listening live!For JAZZ IN CLUBS, see page 5221
