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Volume 22 Issue 2 - October 2016

  • Text
  • October
  • Toronto
  • Choir
  • Jazz
  • Orchestra
  • Symphony
  • Concerts
  • Arts
  • November
  • Musical
In this issue: David Jaeger and Alex Pauk’s most memorable R. Murray Schafer collabs, in this month’s installment of Jaeger’s CBC Radio Two: The Living Legacy; an interview with flutist Claire Chase, who brings new music and mindset to Toronto this month; an investigation into the strange coincidence of three simultaneous Mendelssohn Elijahs this Nov 5; and of course, our annual Blue Pages, a who’s who of southern Ontario’s live music scene- a community as prolific and multifaceted as ever. These and more, as we move full-force into the 2016/17 concert season- all aboard!

I “Ideally, we are

I “Ideally, we are getting smarter,” Chase continues, laughing. “Ideally our brains are evolving. And so our instruments and the way that we play them, but most importantly the way that we communicate with them – the new languages we develop through them – we have a responsibility to evolve that as well. And flute is front and centre in that effort, because it was the first.” A Self-Identified Termite. Of course, musical evolution, at least as Chase describes it, is a multifaceted thing – not P A X C H R I S T I only about the music that performers play and how they play it, but about shifting the social structures upon which that music is built, for the better. The work that won Chase her MacArthur fellowship focused on just this. Her own unique brand of musical entrepreneurship – what she calls an “artist-driven organizational model” – is about giving performers the agency to perform with intent, and to direct their own professional development. It’s about seeing the musical artist as a whole person, and strengthening the connective tissue between that person and the spaces around them. Says Chase: “This model is [about enabling] the artist as a fully C H O R A L E P A X C H R P A X empowered agent of the work of her community. That’s something that’s deeply important to me. It’s the reason I formed ICE; it’s also the reason why I am an advocate for many other organizations and ensembles. I just believe deeply in the power of young artists doing for one another what, frankly, institutions are doing a lousy job of doing for us. I think that in some ways that message has been misconstrued to say, ‘oh, we can do this for ourselves, you guys are off the hook!’ That’s not it at all. It’s more of a termites-vs-elephant way of looking at the world. And as a self-identified termite, I believe it’s my duty, and it’s our duty, to help do for one another what is not going to happen with these big cultural gatekeepers.” C H O R A L E I S T I P A X • C H R I S T I • C H O R A L E C H O R A C P A X H O R C H R L E C H R L A E I S T I I S T I My best advice is from Oscar Wilde: that you should ‘be yourself, because everyone else is taken.’ That’s the truest way to say it. And the advice she would give to young artists, who are hoping to do just that? “My best advice is from Oscar Wilde: that you should ‘be yourself, because everyone else is taken.’ That’s the truest way to say it. It’s not just that being yourself is something we all walk around doing effortlessly. It’s a lifetime of work and it’s a daily slog…it’s also a daily joy, to figure out who we are. “But being committed to being ourselves and celebrating that, indeed, ‘everyone else is taken,’ is not the path that is encouraged by all institutions, by all teachers…It’s certainly not the path I was encouraged to take. It’s not the reigning conservatory advice. In fact, what we’re taught to do, in many music programs, is exactly the opposite. It’s, ‘how can I make myself more like this mold? How can I follow this path? How can I follow the shine of this person?’ Of course we learn from each other, by repetition and by emulation. But we also learn by noticing, and by feeling, and by trusting ourselves. If there’s one thing that I can do to help a younger generation of flutists and artists trust themselves and trust one another, it would be that.” It’s clear that she lives by her own advice. The sense of who Chase is as a person is intimately tied to what she does. The sense of her own individuality, her own physicality, permeates her playing, such that audiences can hear in the music her own unique voice. It’s a hopeful thought, that she believes that we all can trust our own paths, our own selves, our own potential shine. And a success story, as well – because that’s what she did, and she is luminous. Sara Constant is a Toronto-based flutist and musicologist, and is digital media editor at The WholeNote. She can be reached at editorial@thewholenote.com. P A X • C H R I S T • C H O R A L E 10 | October 1, 2016 - November 7, 2016 thewholenote.com

KOERNER HALL IS: “ A beautiful space for music “ THE GLOBE AND MAIL Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 8PM PRE-CONCERT CHAT 7:15PM KOERNER HALL Tickets start at only “Their sound is sweet and pure, their ensemble work airtight.” (The Washington Post) One of Britain’s most beloved and enduring chamber ensembles performs string and woodwind masterworks by Rossini, Mozart, and Schubert. Generously supported by David G. Broadhurst Steven Schick SUNDAY, NOV 6, 2PM MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL Free (Ticket Required) Founding percussionist of the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Schick presents a program of works by Lei Liang, Mark Applebaum, John Cage, and Iannis Xenakis. Generously supported by Dorothy Cohen Shoichet Songmasters: Welcome and Adieu SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2PM MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL Tickets are Soprano Nathalie Paulin, “deeply appealing in voice and stage presence,” (The Washington Post) and soprano and Songmasters curator Monica Whicher explore ‘Welcome and Adieu,’ the beauty of English and French songs with pianists Robert Kortgaard and Peter Tiefenbach. Taylor Academy Showcase Concert SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 4:30PM MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL Free (Ticket Required) The Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists presents concerts by the leading young classical musicians in Canada. Hear the stars of tomorrow! Generation Next THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 8PM KOERNER HALL Tickets start at only Five Canadian classical talents who are on the cusp of international careers! Hear Charles Richard-Hamelin and Tony Yike Yang, both medalists at the 2015 International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, along with pianist Alexander Seredenko, cellist Stéphane Tétreault, and Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions winner, mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo. Judy Loman 80th Birthday Celebration SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2PM MAZZOLENI CONCERT HALL Tickets are Harp virtuoso Judy Loman performs works by Salzedo, Renie, and Canadian composers whom she has commissioned. This concert celebrates her illustrious career and the CD launch of Ariadne’s Legacy on the Centrediscs label, the complete works for harp by R. Murray Schafer. TICKETS & ROYAL SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE NOW! 416.408.0208 www.performance.rcmusic.ca 273 BLOOR STREET WEST (BLOOR 237 BLOOR ST. & AVENUE STREET RD.) WEST TORONTO (BLOOR ST. & AVENUE RD.) TORONTO

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