Volume 25 Issue 3 - November 2019

LIZ BEDDALL Dean

LIZ BEDDALL Dean Bury/Yvette Nolan’s Shanawdithit in which Newman, as seen on our cover, played the title role. “We keep meeting up here and there, and Rebecca and I have become very good friends as well as colleagues and I’m always delighted to work with her. I think she’s a really smart and interesting artist – she’s very young but very grounded and centred and learning very quickly how to speak up when that’s what’s needed in a great way. She’s definitely that next generation who are going to do incredible things, and so it was an easy one to want to have her on board. And Evan … Evan has a beautiful voice – he’s from the Garden River First Nations in Ontario. And I think … he could sing anything – it doesn’t need to be Indigenous music but I think that he does have an important voice there, and I really want to let him to know he is welcome in that place and I hope one day he is also helping lead where we’re all going – where there is truth in music, bringing our culture forward.” In its mushiest sense, the word “confluence” is a bit like the word “synergy,” descriptive of any old kind of coming together – good for grant applications and things like that, but not particularly helpful as to how to go about it. But its narrower meaning is both intriguing and instructive: namely the junction of two equivalent rivers: each strengthened by the other as they continue, downstream. True confluence means neither accepting or demanding tributary status of the other. The Heliconian event itself is a collaborative work in progress. “Evan and Rebecca are part of developing the plan. We need to make sure it’s not too wordy, but still offer some context … a bit like introducing songs like at a potlatch or powwow, you talk about the permission granted to perform a work, about who you need to be naming. In ceremony there is speaking and music, so seeing this as a ceremony of sorts makes sense. We’ll be singing in Gitxsan and Odawa and a little bit of Kwak’wala. It’s an amazing opportunity to sing those languages back into the air. And we are drawing from repertoire I’ve been involved in over the years, that come with really good feelings – ones where collaborations worked beautifully. Some of it is new for Rebecca and Evan, but they are really cool at saying yes, this is an opportunity.” There’s nothing abstract about Newman’s personal understanding of what true confluence entails: “I have understood this idea of Indigenous classical music my whole life. At five I was already steeped in the cultures of both sides of my family. There’s a picture of me wearing my kilt … and my moccasins and my dad’s toque, with a pair of wooden spoons crossed on the floor, and I’m doing a highland dance. For my parents it was such a snapshot of how I was being raised, living all of my cultures. What it was like to be able to just be everything without anyone questioning. I began piano lessons – Suzuki – and right away did my own composing, like Kinanu, my lullaby, in its first iteration. I found my worlds could meld organically. Now it’s about getting other people to understand, and embrace, the possibilities.” David Perlman can be reached at publisher@thewholenote.com TWO ODYSSEYS: Pimooteewin / Gállábártnit NOV 13–17 ADA SLAIGHT HALL, DANIELS SPECTRUM The world’s first operas sung and narrated in the Indigenous languages of both Cree and Sámi. BLACK In partnership with Production Sponsor Venue Partners (416) 408-0208 | soundstreams.ca 10 | November 2019 thewholenote.com

KOERNER HALL 2019.20 Concert Season Ray Chen with Julio Elizalde FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 8PM PRELUDE RECITAL 7PM KOERNER HALL TICKETS START AT ONLY “Colors dance, moods swing, and Chen’s artistry blazes.” (The Times) Works by Grieg, Saint-Saëns, Bach, Debussy, and Ravel. Royal Academy of Music, London SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1PM MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL Free tickets will be available starting Mon. Nov. 4. Students and faculty from London, England’s Royal Academy of Music perform with their counterparts from The Glenn Gould School. Generously supported by Dorothy Cohen Shoichet ARC Ensemble presents the works of Dmitri Klebanov SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 7:30PM MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL Free tickets will be available starting Fri. Nov. 8. The Ukrainian-Jewish composer, Dmitri Klebanov, was one of communism’s many casualties. ARC revives Klebanov’s vivacious String Quartet No. 4, a stunning Piano Trio, and extraordinary songs performed by soprano, Olenka Slywynska. Andrei Feher conducts the Royal Conservatory Orchestra FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2019 8PM PRELUDE RECITAL AT 6:45PM / PRE-CONCERT TALK AT 7:15PM KOERNER HALL TICKETS START AT ONLY $25 Andrei Feher will conduct the RCO in Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 (“Titan”) and cellist Mansur Kadirov in Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1. Part of the Temerty Orchestral Program Taylor Academy Showcase Concert SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 4:30PM MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL Free tickets will be available starting Fri. Nov. 15. The Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists presents this concert by the stars of tomorrow! Beethoven’s 6th with Valdepeñas MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 7:30PM MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL Tickets: Joaquin Valdepeñas, conducts Glenn Gould School students in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”). 273 BLOOR STREET WEST 237 (BLOOR ST. STREET & AVENUE WEST RD.) (BLOOR TORONTO ST. & AVENUE RD.) TORONTO Rebanks Family Fellowship Concert WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 7:30PM MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL Free tickets will be available starting Wed. Nov. 27. Hear artists on the cusp of major careers perform solo and chamber works. Generously supported by the Rebanks Family and Academy Chamber Orchestra SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 7:30PM MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL Free tickets will be available starting Fri. Dec. 6. String students from The Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists come together to perform this special concert. TICKETS & GIFT CERTIFICATES ARE GREAT GIFTS! TICKETS & SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE NOW! 416.408.0208 RCMUSIC.COM/PERFORMANCE