Beat by Beat / Classical & BeyondOttawa’s GryphonALLAN PULKEROttawa chamber music festival (Ottawa Chamberfest) artisticdirector, Roman Borys, and I sat down at a noisy restaurantthat had spilled out onto Toronto’s burgeoning Ossington Ave.to discuss the festival and his role in it.Borys, the cellist of theGryphon Trio, had performedthere most, if not every, summersince it began in 1993. In the fallof 2007, after the resignation offounding director, Julian Armour(also a cellist), the festival’s boardof directors invited him to take onthe job of artistic director.In its first eleven years,according to Borys, “it was thisamazing festival that had beenfuelled by vision and charisma.The problem was that a lot ofimportant production details werenot being looked after. Therewasn’t consistency in staff, andit is very difficult to run anorganization like that. To be ableto attract and keep good staff, youhave to be able to pay them. Allthat business takes a great dealof time.” In spite of this, thefestival had been very successful,supported almost entirely byOttawa people. “It’s about smallensembles, a small group ofpeople relying on one another,there’s an egalitarian feel aboutthis music … everyone is an equal,everyone has their voice, andthat’s the beautiful thing about chamber music. I think that is one ofthe reasons it took off in Ottawa when it did, that this aspect of themusic corresponded with the Ottawa psyche.”Roman Borys’ fourth summer as OttawaChamberFest artistic director.Borys brought to the job far more than the artistic maturity gainedthrough study with some of the best teachers in the world and adozen years of playing with the Gryphon Trio. With the Gryphonshe had also found his stride as a musical entrepreneur. “I alwayspaid attention to the way things work. It’s been my role in the trioto be the guy who keeps the business going,” something he has donewith remarkable success. The Gryphon Trio has released 14 CDswith Analekta, two of which have won JUNO awards. For manyyears, while performing all over the world, it was ensemble-inresidencewith Music Toronto, with whom it pioneered its innovativeappearances at the Lula Lounge, including the highly successfulmulti-media collaboration with singers Patricia O’Callaghan andMaryem Tollar, Constantinople,which gave them the opportunityto work with Tapestry, the BanffCentre and Robert Lepage’sEx Machina. “When you dealwith these other producers whoare working with you on aproject, you pay attention andyou learn from them, from theirpractices. You just listen to theirconversations and you start tohear what their successes andwhat their responses to challengesare rooted in.”Even more than his artisticinsight and connections in themusic world, Ottawa Chamberfestneeded this kind of insight. Thething this organization neededmore than anything else, he toldme, “was to be given its ownarms and legs so it could be anindependent entity; it could, infact exist with interchangeablepieces. It was my vision, rightfrom the beginning, to get thisthing to the point where it was anamazing machine.”The first step in the realizationof the vision was the hiring ofGlenn Hodgins as executive director.With 12 years experience at Tafelmusik and seven at the OntarioArts Council, Hodgins brought invaluable insight into how to run ahighly successful arts organization and into the inner workings ofJUL 21-24, 2011ALLAN PULKERBrands:SteinwayMason & HamlinHeintzmanYamahaKawaiYoung ChangWeberHailunAccolade East Building - Main FloorSandra Faire & Ivan Fecan Theatre12 thewholenote.comJuly 1–September 7, 2011
AN INCOMPARABLE OPERA SEASONcoc.ca 416-363-8231Rachel Harnisch, Love from Afar, Vlaamse Opera, 2010. Photo: Annemie Augustijns. Creative: EndeavourSUBSCRIPTIONS FROM 0ON SALE NOWRIGOLETTOVERDIA FLORENTINE TRAGEDY/GIANNI SCHICCHIZEMLINSKY/PUCCINITHE TALES OF HOFFMANNOFFENBACHLOVE FROM AFARSAARIAHOSEMELEHANDELTOSCAPUCCINIIPHIGENIA IN TAURISGLUCKJuly 1–September 7, 2011 thewholenote.com 13
