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Volume 20 Issue 2 - October 2014

  • Text
  • October
  • Toronto
  • Choir
  • November
  • Concerts
  • Jazz
  • Musical
  • Arts
  • Orchestra
  • Theatre
Includes the 2014 Blue Pages Member Directory

Allison AngeloSaina

Allison AngeloSaina Singer and Patricia Cano. The other instalments will follow onNovember 27 and December 21.Two by Arends: On October 11 Allison Arends, soprano, will sing atMontgomery’s Inn. She will join Barbara Fris, soprano, and others, ina Heliconian Club program of music from Jane Austen’s family collection,at Heliconian Hall, October 17.Last but not least: “Songs of Peace and Protest” will be presented bysingers/songwriters James Gordon, Evalyn Parry, Len Wallace, FaithNolan, Mick Lane and Tony Quarrington at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre,October 18.There will be three free midday concerts by vocal students atTribute Communities Hall, Accolade East Building, York UniversityOctober 21, 23 and 28.Katherine Hill, Thomas Baeté and Joe Carew will be the vocalsoloists in a program that includes songs by Rogers, Purcell andBrassens as well as 14th- and 15th-century Italian polyphony atSt. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church, October 26.Also on October 26, Allison Angelo, soprano, will sing withGiles Tomkins, baritone, in Off Centre Music Salon’s 20th annualSchubertiad at Glenn Gould Studio.On October 28 and 29 the Talisker Players present “Songs ofTravel,” music by Applebaum, de la Guerre, Vaughan Williams andWeigl, with readings from the journals of explorers. The singersare Virginia Hatfield, soprano, and Geoffrey Sirett, baritone atTrinity-St. Paul’s Centre.Catherine Wyn-Rogers, mezzo, Stuart Skelton, tenor, and JohnRelyea, bass-baritone, will be the soloists in the performance ofElgar’s The Dream of Gerontius by the Toronto Symphony Orchestrawith the Elmer Iseler Singers and the Amadeus Choir, at Roy ThomsonHall October 30 and November 1.The tenor Michael Ciufo will sing at St. John’s United Churchon November 1. You will also be able to hear Ciufo, along with thesoprano Beatrice Carpino, in a concert given by the Ontario ChristianMusic Assembly Choirs at Roy Thomson Hall November 7.Not to be missed, as part of the ongoing Ukrainian Art Song Project,music from Galicia will be sung by a top-flight group of singers(Monica Whicher, soprano, Kristina Szabó, mezzo, Russell Braun, baritone,and Pavlo Hunka, bass-baritone) at Koerner Hall November 2.The Art of Time Ensemble presents a program of poems and theirmusical settings: Petrarch/Liszt, Eliot/Lloyd Webber, Whitman/Crumb, Leonard Cohen. The reader is Margaret Atwood and thesingers are Thom Allison, Gregory Hoskins and Carla Huhtanen atHarbourfront November 7 and 8.And beyond the GTA: Daniel Lichti, bass-baritone, will sing in afree noon-time concert at the Maureen Forrester Recital Hall, WilfredLaurier University on October 9. The countertenor Daniel Cabenawill sing in a free noon-time recital at the University of Guelph’sMacKinnon Room November 6.Hans de Groot is a concertgoer and active listenerwho also sings and plays the recorder. He can becontacted at artofsong@thewholenote.com.36 | October 1 - November 7, 2014 thewholenote.com

Beat by Beat | BandstandIt Rained OnOur ParadeJACK MACQUARRIELast summer, as you may recall, I wrote about travelling with theConcert Band of Cobourg to Plattsburgh New York to take insome of the celebrations around the annual joint Canada-U.S.celebration of the Battle of Plattsburgh, which ended the War of 1812.For many years The Concert Band of Cobourg has been the featuredband in these celebrations: in their role as The Band of Her Majesty’sRoyal Marines Association, this band has royal permission to wear theuniform of the Royal Marines on parade and in concert.Many years ago I had the privilege of serving, on exchange duty forsome months, aboard a large ship in the Royal Navy. Since our shipwas the admiral’s flagship in a squadron of ships, we had a band ofthe Royal Marines as part of our crew. It was during that time that Ideveloped a strong affinity for the appearance and musicality of RoyalMarine bands and their ceremonies. So it is a special pleasure for meto see and hear this Cobourg band emulate those characteristics.While attending the festivities last year, it was suggested that wemust not miss this year’s events. Since that battle ended in 1814, the2014 events were to be the most extensive ever, commemorating itstwo hundredth anniversary. We committed ourselves to attend andmade our reservations early to ensure accommodation at the samehotel as the Cobourg band and their friends. In short we becamegroupies for the weekend.As promised, this was a much bigger celebration with more events,a longer parade with more floats, more bands and more battlere-enactments. Unfortunately, there also were far more umbrellas.Whether or not there was rain during that battle 200 years ago, I can’trecall, but we certainly had our share. Most of the participants in theirelaborate period costumes were soggy to say the least, despite theoccasional surrender to modern technology, as in the case of a beautifullyoutfitted fife and drum band with their drums neatly protectedin the latest plastic drum covers.Fortunately there was sufficient time between the end of the paradeand the concert for the Cobourg Band members to dry their uniformsand appear on stage looking resplendent as usual. As might beexpected, this concert had a theme emphasizing the strong bond nowexisting between the descendants of that conflict 200 years ago.Numerology: The Oxford English Dictionary defines numerology asthe “study of supposed occult significance of numbers.” Looking at thenumbers evoked by the Plattsburgh event, one might be excused forthinking there might have numerological mischief at work. The battlebeing commemorated ended in 1814. World War One started in 1914,and we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of its end in 2014. Thenthere are 9 and 11. It was on the morning of September 11, 1814 whenopposing troops battled at Plattsburgh, with opposing ships in battleon Lake Champlain. Here we were, 200 years later, on September 11,gathered to celebrate two centuries of peace and harmonious relations.At the same time, we were reminded that on that date only 13years ago the World Trade towers and other targets were struck withfar more casualties than the Battle of Plattsburgh.CBA Community Band Weekend: Another CBA CommunityBand Weekend is imminent. This year it will be held in NewmarketOctober 3, 4 and 5, and will be hosted by none other than theNewmarket Citizens’ Band. Why participate? As the CBA promotionalmaterial states: a) to perform in a massed band setting, learnnew repertoire and work with inspiring conductors; b) to performat the Newmarket Theatre in Newmarket, Ontario; c) to meet manywonderful musicians who share the same passion for band musicas you do. NCB artistic director Joseph Resendes is well known asdirector of three community concert bands in the GTA. Conductingduties will be shared with no fewer than seven other conductors.While many have already registered, if you still wish to attend, it’snot too late. Online registration is still possible atcba-ontario.ca (follow the links). In the worst case, you could registerat the door on Saturday, but there might not still be parts available forall of the music.On the Friday evening at 7:30pm there will be a Meet and Greetreception at one of the town’s favourite meeting places: The Lionand Firkin at the corner of Leslie and Gorham in Newmarket. Allday Saturday there will be rehearsals at the Newmarket Theatre, 505Pickering Cres. On Saturday evening there will be an optional formaldinner for those who wish to attend at 8pm. The final concert will beat 2pm Sunday afternoon in the Newmarket Theatre.New Horizons: Regular readers of this column know my thoughtsabout the importance of lifelong musical involvement. By the timeyou read this, there will have been another New Horizons InstrumentExploration Workshop on Bloor St. W. in downtown Toronto, withover 20 members signed up for the new beginners’ band. The firstclass for the new beginners’ group will take place on Wednesday,October 8 at Long and McQuade, 935 Bloor St. W. in Toronto. In additionto this new beginners’ group, the Bloor New Horizons organizationwill now have the previous five concert bands plus the jazz band.Total membership of these groups is now estimated to be close to 180.BandStand continues in “Musical Life” on page 60thewholenote.com October 1 - November 7, 2014 | 37

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