Volume 27 Issue 3 - December 2021 / January 2022

FOR OPENERS MANY HAPPY

FOR OPENERS MANY HAPPY RETURNS DAVID PERLMAN [David] - welcome back to [Massey Hall]! My name is [Jesse Kumagai], I am the [President and CEO] of [Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall] a [charitable non-profit organization] and I want to tell you about [last night]. [Last evening], [2,500 thrilled Torontonians] gathered in the [Allan Slaight Auditorium] – a space that has brought us together for [more than 127 years.] Getting to this milestone moment has been a long and challenging journey. When we closed our doors [in the summer of 2018], nobody could have predicted [what fate had in store.] Because in March of 2020, the world changed. The pandemic had a significant impact on our [project], stopping [construction] for an extended period of time, then making it so much more challenging when we resumed. It increased [the cost], interrupted our [fundraising], and delayed [our completion] – all while [Roy Thomson Hall sat dark, our business halted in its tracks]. The fact we [opened last night] is something of a minor miracle. Truthfully, there are a few elements that [are not quite finished], and under the circumstances, we could have [postponed our reopening]. But the pandemic also made us all appreciate just how important [cultural events like this] are to the fabric of our society. And as we [return to the life we once knew], this moment has taken on an entirely new significance. Nothing was going to deter us from [welcoming you back] and who better than [legendary Gordon Lightfoot] to [perform at Massey Hall’s reopening.] So I hope you’ll [forgive our imperfections], and know that in due course, [every last detail will be brought up to the standard Massey Hall deserves]. And in the coming months, we will be [opening more performance venues], and [spaces for music education, community groups, and of course, artists], to realize the promise of [Allied Music Centre.] But for now, I want to thank [you all]. I want to thank you for being part of our journey, and our community. You make it all worthwhile. Let’s make some [new memories at Massey!] Here’s the thing. I hope you get a bit of a chuckle, or a smile anyway, out of the adjacent treatment of Jesse Kumagai’s heartfelt words, via email, on the occasion of the recent re-opening of Massey Hall. But I hope just as hard that the chuckle isn’t cynical. Because that’s not where I am coming from. It’s hard for me to find anything to be spiteful about here. What’s not to like, for example, about main floor seating which can be slid under the stage transforming bums-in-plush-seats conventional concert attendance for those who desire it, into standing room for those audiences who cannot imagine being comfortable not moving to the music? As Marianne McKenna principal architect of the loving and visionary restoration/renovation put it during a sneak peek guided tour for EXCLAIM! the day before the reopening: “[It’s] what “everybody” wants, but the other part of the everybody, they want to sit down. So we can do both. We’ve introduced adaptability, flexibility. This really is a hall for the 21st century.” And what’s not to like about the transformation of a great hall into a great hub, as Kumagai described it, full of “spaces for music education, community groups, and of course, artists”? Think about it. If the largest among us in the arts ecosystem can opt for visionary transformation – from concert hall to hub for community arts – then maybe we are truly emerging into a time where support for that ideal will, for once, filter all the way down. Can you imagine some version of Kumagai’s message being delivered when some not-to-distant big day dawns for an arts organization or cause that in every way you are invested in? I sure can! David Perlman can be reached, for now anyway, at publisher@thewholenote.com. Upcoming Dates & Deadlines Free Event Listings NEW! Weekly online updates 6pm every Tuesday for weekend posting for Volume 27 No. 4 January & February 2022 Print edition listings deadline Midnight, Jan 3, 2022 Print advertising, reservation deadline 6pm Tuesday Jan 4, 2022 Classifieds deadline 6pm Saturday Jan 8, 2022 Publication Dates Tuesday Jan 18 (online) Friday, Jan 21 (print) WholeNote Media Inc. accepts no responsibility or liability for claims made for any product or service reported on or advertised in this issue. Printed in Canada Couto Printing & Publishing Services Circulation Statement Oct 27, 2021 8,000 printed & distributed Canadian Publication Product Sales Agreement 1263846 ISSN 14888-8785 WHOLENOTE Publications Mail Agreement #40026682 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: WholeNote Media Inc. Centre for Social Innovation 503–720 Bathurst Street Toronto ON M5S 2R4 COPYRIGHT © 2021 WHOLENOTE MEDIA INC thewholenote.com 8 | December 2021 and January 2022 thewholenote.com

Speaking of happy returns ... THE BLUE PAGES It is with a growing sense of optimism that we continue to welcome new and returning presenters to our Blue Pages directory, as their plans firm up for the calendar year ahead. Take a look at the index to our BLUE PAGES DIRECTORY OF MUSIC MAKERS on page 33, which keeps growing issue by issue. Full profiles can be found at thewholenote.com/blue. All in all, there’s a growing sense of hope and new beginnings, coupled with a pragmatism in regard to maintaining a safe approach to performing. Here’s just a taste, from profiles recently added: “After ‘going to ground’ for most of 2019/20,” writes Nine Sparrows Arts Foundation, “in cooperation with Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, we return this December with a virtual presentation of City Carol Sing 2021, and a plan to resume our Tuesday Lunchtime Chamber Music series in January 2022.” The Toronto Symphony Orchestra will “continue to offer a range of performance options, from a much anticipated return to in-person concerts at Roy Thomson Hall and the George Weston Recital Hall to a continuation of virtual concerts streamed throughout the season.” “After a year of virtual rehearsals,” Etobicoke Centennial Choir announces, “our dedicated choristers have returned to safely and joyfully harmonizing together in person ... We are planning a virtual streamed concert in December, including Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio, with a return to live performances in 2022.” Some are concentrating for now on consolidating the online gains forced on them by pandemic necessity. “In November 2020, The Toronto Consort launched Early Music TV – an all-new video-ondemand service dedicated to music from 1100-1700 AD. Early Music TV offers feature-length productions, behind-the-scenes documentaries, and extensive video and audio libraries.” And if you’re looking for something to do on New Year’s Day, Attila Glatz Concert Productions’ “energetic, lighthearted, and full-of-romance Salute to Vienna New Year’s Concert … celebrates the limitless possibilities each New Year brings.” And so say all of us. If you’re a music presenter or arts services organization, there’s still time to join our Blue Pages directory. To celebrate a new year that is a new beginning in more ways than one, in our next print edition (January 21 2022) we’ll publish a consolidated directory of all profiles received by January 6, 2022. For details on how to join contact Karen Ages at members@thewholenote.com Thursday January 13 at 8 pm Juilliard Quartet Tuesday January 25 at 8 pm Vanessa Benelli Mosell Tickets: 416-366-7723 option 2 27 Front Street East, Toronto | music-toronto.com thewholenote.com December 2021 and January 2022 | 9