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Volume 17 Issue 5 - February 2012

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  • February
  • Toronto
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When is a Festival …

When is a Festival … Not?few weeks back an announcement appeared on the Capital OneA BlackCreek Summer Festival website, suspending operationsfor the coming summer in order to “ensure the execution of a newfinancing strategy that would provide long-term financial stability andnear-term cash flow for the festival.” BlackCreek’s “staff, crew, suppliers,media partners, sponsors, chorus and musicians” (i.e. its creditors,The WholeNote among them) are “congratulated for their achievementsin launching the festival,” and “thanked for their patience during thistrying financial period.” We are informed that a further announcementwill be forthcoming by March 31.If the above had been the full text of the BlackCreek apologia, I’dprobably have kept my mouth shut, at least until March 31. But thenext bit got my goat. I quote:“The BlackCreek Summer Music Festival is Canada’s only summerlongmusic festival. BlackCreek was conceived on the similar premisethat provided the foundation of the wonderful summer music festivalsin the US, such as Tanglewood in Massachusetts, Ravinia, north ofChicago and Wolf Trap near Washington, DC. There are over 100summer music festivals in the US, but before BlackCreek, not one inCanada. Unlike these major summer music festivals, BlackCreek isnot a not-for-profit organization, and unlike every major arts festivalin Ontario, did not receive government funding which certainly acceleratedthe financial challenges.”I’ll leave it to you to parse the differences in what “summer” meanseach of the four times it is used in the above paragraph, differences thatpoint to gaps in logic large enough to drive a monster truck through.The word in the above paragraph that gets me yapping away at thispoint is “Festival.” Because whatever else it might have been, 17, um15, er, make that 12, concerts, spread out over three and a half monthsFOR OPENERS / DAVID PERLMAN(i.e. with gaps between them large enough to drive a monster truckthrough) may well constitute a summer series, but, baby, a festival itain’t. Understanding the difference might just make the difference ifthe Capital One BlackCreek Summer Something shows its eyes abovethe water after March 31.And that’s enough of that.VOCAL MUSIC ACADEMY ANNOUNCEDIt’s rather fitting, I think (albeit in a somewhat meandering way), that theToronto District School Board should choose February, Black HistoryMonth, to make the announcement that two Vocal Music Academies(one out of Ryerson Community School at Bathurst and Dundas, oneout of Heather Heights Junior Public School in Scarborough) are to belaunched in fall 2012. The two are among nine “special focus” academiesto be launched, all housed within existing schools, with focusesranging from “Boys’ Leadership” and “Girls’ Leadership” to “Sportsand Wellness” and “Health and Wellness.”“When you have 550 schools, they don’t all have to be the same,” saidTDSB Director Chris Spence to the National Post’s Peter Kuitenbrouwer.“Sameness is not equal to excellence. I believe the biggest issue isn’tunderachievement. It’s disengagement. It is our hope that engagementwill increase now.”It’s a comment reflective of the reasoning Spence brought to bearin response to criticism of the TDSB’s establishment of its AfricentricAlternative School, out of Sheppard Public School, last fall. I can’tthink of a better focus than vocal music to affirm distinctiveness andaspiration, across the human family, all in one breath. Let the singingbegin.—David Perlman, publisher@thewholenote.comThe WholeNote The Toronto Concert-Goer’s GuideVOLUME 17 NO 5 | FEB 1 – MAR 7, 2012720 Bathurst St, Suite 503,Toronto ON M5S 2R4MAIN TELEPHONE 416-323-2232FAX 416-603-4791SWITCHBOARD & GENERAL INQUIRIES Ext 21Chairman of the Board | Allan Pulkerdirectors@thewholenote.comPublisher/Editor In Chief | David Perlmanpublisher@thewholenote.comCD Editor | David Oldsdiscoveries@thewholenote.comEvent Advertising/MembershipKaren Ages | members@thewholenote.comAdvertising/Production Support/OperationsJack Buell | adart@thewholenote.comListings DepartmentSharna Searle | Listings Editorlistings@thewholenote.comOri Dagan | Jazz Listings Editorjazz@thewholenote.comWebsiteBryson Winchester | systems@thewholenote.comCirculation, Display Stands & SubscriptionsChris Malcolm | circulation@hewholenote.comPatrick Slimmon | patrick@thewholenote.comOMDC AND THE ONTARIO ARTS COUNCILARE AGENCIES OF THE GOVERNMENT OF ONTARIOTHANKS TO THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORSCover PhotoSN BiancaBeat ColumnsBANDSTAND | Jack MacQuarrieBOOKSHELF | Pamela MarglesCLASSICAL & BEYOND | Sharna SearleCHORAL SCENE | Benjamin SteinDISCOVERIES | David OldsEARLY MUSIC | Simone DesiletsIN THE CLUBS | Ori DaganIN WITH THE NEW | David PerlmanJAZZ NOTES| Jim GallowayMUSICAL LIFE | mJ buellMUSICAL THEATRE | Robert WallaceOPERA | Christopher HoileWORLD MUSIC | Andrew TimarFeaturesRobert Wallace, Allan Pulker, David PerlmanCD ReviewersAlex Baran, Larry Beckwith, Geoff Chapman,Daniel Foley, Janos Gardonyi, Richard Haskell,J. Scott Irvine, Tiina Kiik, Roger Knox,John Larocque, Lesley Mitchell-Clarke,Christina Petrowska Quilico, Ivana Popovich,Allan Pulker, Cathy Riches, Terry Robbins,Michael Schwartz, Sharna Searle, Bruce Surtees,Andrew Timar, Robert Tomas, Dianne Wells,Ken WaxmanProofreadingKaren Ages, Ori Dagan, Sharna SearleListingsOri Dagan, Sharna SearleLayout & DesignBrian Cartwright (cover), Uno RamatSUBSCRIPTIONS per year + HST (10 issues)Upcoming Dates & DeadlinesFree Event Listings Deadline6pm Wednesday February 15Display Ad Reservations Deadline6pm Wednesday February 15Advertising Materials Due6pm Friday February 17Publication DateWednesday February 29Next issue, Volume 17 No 6covers March 1 to April 7, 2012WholeNote Media Inc. accepts no responsibilityor liability for claims made for any product orservice reported on or advertised in this issue.Printed in CanadaCouto Printing & Publishing ServicesCirculation StatementFebruary 2012: 30,000 printed & distributed.Canadian Publication ProductSales Agreement 1263846ISSN 14888-8785 WHOLENOTEPublications Mail Agreement #40026682Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to:WholeNote Media Inc.503-720 Bathurst StreetToronto ON M5S 2R4COPYRIGHT © 2012 WHOLENOTE MEDIA INCwww.thewholenote.com6 thewholenote.comFebruary 1 – March 7, 2012

Artistic Directors: Stephen Ralls and Bruce Ubukata30Years Celebrating the Art of SongThe 30th Anniversary GalaSunday, February 19, 2:30 pmKoerner Hall, TELUS Centre forPerformance and Learning,273 Bloor Street West, TorontoSponsored by:Sixteen of our starriest singers joinus to celebrate:Colin Ainsworth, Benjamin Butterfield,Michael Colvin, Tyler Duncan,Gerald Finley, Gillian Keith,Shannon Mercer, Nathalie Paulin,Susan Platts, Brett Polegato,Catherine Robbin, Lauren Segal,Krisztina Szabó, Giles Tomkins,Monica Whicher, Lawrence WilifordVisit rcmusic.ca or call 416.408.0208The 30th Anniversary Sunday SeriesOctober 16: Clair de lune (songs of Gabriel Fauré)November 27: The Great Comet (Franz Liszt at 200)March 18: Schubert and the EsterházysApril 29: A Country House Weekend (an English idyll)All concerts at 2:30 pm in Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building,80 Queen’s ParkVisit aldeburghconnection.org or call 416.735.7982~E TO|oNTOCºNSO|tpresentsª MUSICALBESTIARYMarch 23 & 24 at 8 pmA program in honour of the world of animals,including some magnificent mythical beasts.Recorder virtuosa Alison Melville curates thisprogram of music from Renaissance Europe,including “The Ape, the Monkey, and Baboon”,“The Counterpoint of the Animals”,“Le chant des oyseaux” and much more!For Tickets call 416-964-6337 or order onlinetorontoconsort.orgTrinity-St. Paul’s Centre, 427 Bloor St. WestFebruary 1 – March 7, 2012thewholenote.com 7

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