John McGuigan is
John McGuigan is currently youthfulness of the fine musicians in this group was apparent the administrative secretary and impressive. A feature of this concert was the new work of the Canadian Band Associ- by Eric Whitacre called Ghost Train Tryptic h. This featured ption (Ontario Chapter). His solo work on clarinet by Phi! Nimmons and on piano by main function is the editing Mark Carnilleri. What a daring and audience~thrilling piece of 'the quarterly magazine . of programming! "Fanfare " and to maintain Both of these groups will be presenting concerts records and offices for the in the near future and I highly recommend them to you. If association. He also owns you enjoy wind band music this is the best that Toronto and operates "COMPRINT" has to offer and it is of a highly entertaining and satisfying a publishing house for new nature. If you are a music lover who has heretofore not Canadian music. Currently this catalogue contains 28 Band been a .fan of wind literature, these are your best opportunities publications and 24 Choral publications. to experience the idiom. Take my advice and see for yourself. There is much to recommend in the performing of good wind literature. The dynamic potential, the gorgeous rich Two Premium Bands Vie for sound of multi-winds and brasses mixed with the salt and pepper of precocious percussion not always subtly applied Attention in TO makes these presentations a feast for the ear in novel ways that an orchestra is not able to present. On Friday, March 611t, 1998, nearly 200 musicians will perform on George Weston Recital Hall stage (... but I had the pleasure of listening to two fine band concerts last month and found them to be interesting contrasts in band philosophy. The first was a concert by the Toronto Wind Orchestra under guest conductor Tania Miller. The second was a concert at MacMillan Theatre by the Toronto Youth Wind Ensemble under its own conductor Colin Clark. Both of these ensembles boast fine musicians to start with and the choice of repertoire and fine conducting made. them both concerts of imp essive standards. It was in comparing the content of the two concerts that I found great differences. The first concert on November 28th by the Toronto Wind Orchestra was a presentation of standard well known works for band impressively presented by a group of professional adult musicians who knew which end of the horn to blow into. The playing was very fine and the conducting by the strikingly youthful Tania Mil!e( from the University of Michigan was superb. It is wonderful to see young conductors arriving on the scene who can take control and wield a baton in front of seasoned musicians and make them take th'e music seriously. Shostakovitch 's Festive Overture, Grainger's Shepherd's Hey, Hoist's Jupiter and Hindemith 's Symphonic Metamorphosis all came across with exitement and enthusiasm. Miss Miller incidentally was born in rural Saskatchewan . This is irrelevant but it is a compliment to our Canadian band scene that such a fine young conductor is emerging. · In contrast, the November 30th concert by the Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra and its feeder band, the Toronto Youth Concert Winds, was distinguished by its attention to the newer composers of literature for the Wind Ensemble. I guess this is very appropriate since the not at the same time - thank goodness!) The Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra will join musical forces with the University of Toronto Wind Symphony, and the fearless men and women of the United States Air Force Band of Liberty, in a presentation suitably called Wind Band Spectacular! Executed by three top-notch ensembles, the evening will feature presentations of some of today's most innovative and exciting selections for wind band, and will be hosted by one of Canada's most popular music personalities, Bobby Herriot. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. and tickets can be purchased at the Ford Centre Box Office or by calling Ticketmaster at (416) 872-2222. This is a concert you don't want to miss! The Toronto Wind Orchestra is breaking new groun'd by presenting two concerts in bars next month. On Friday, February 13 the Hargrave Bar on the Danforth will host a presentation of Walton 's Far;ade, Stravinski's · L'Histoire du Soldat and Weill's Little Threepenny Music. Concerts are at 9:00 pm and will be very interestingly narrated by Peter Tieffenbach from CBC. The same concert will be presented at the Barcode on Queen St. on the following night The Toronto scene is blossoming wjth quality band music as these groups plan their fine band repertoire. Keep I in mind also the Greater Toronto Area Teacher's Wind Ensemble which is planning a grand concert for April 18. More about this in a future column. Do you know about band-related events Wholenote readers would be interested in? Phone or fax John McGuigan at 90.5-826-5542 or email comprint@sympatico.ca TORONTO'S ONLY COMPREHENSIVE MONTHLY CLASSICAL & CONTEMPORARY CONCERT LISTING SOURCE
al·nrofii.E BY HoBEH r I I\ .'\ ~ "\ 0 ur ears, like microphones, pick up . all sound around us. But our brains filter out sounds we choose to ignore and focus more closely on the sounds we are interested in. For example in a noisy restaurant, to a certain extent we are able to decide which conversation we want to listen to and disregard the rest. Similarly musicians are quite adept at listening for their own instrument, even if it's a quiet part in a symphony. We use these selective listening skills, often unknowingly, when we attend concerts, especially the wonderful and varied concerts in Toronto's churches. Churches are typically located on busy streets; many have subways undemeath (understandable, given that the church's main concem is not extraneous noise, but accessibility). And many older churches with wonderful acoustics have old boiler systems with gurgling and vibrating pipes. During the concert, th ough, we quickly tune out the unwanted sounds and enjoy the music. FLAWS AMPLIFIED Listening from the comfort of our living room, where we have already tuned out the sounds of our house, is Part II: Location, Humbercrest United another.story! We notice every rumbling subway train or gurgling pipe . Even worse, we tend to anticipate and notice the recording's unwanted noises or mistakes more on each subsequent listening. Therefore, when choosing a church to do a serious recording, it is imperative that consideration be given to these noise concems. HUMBERCREST Although rare, some churches can be found away from subway w1es and within residential areas, which meet these criteria. Humbercrest United Church on Baby Poi11t Road near Bloor and Jane is tucked away on a residential street, and any road noise is reduced further since only one end of the hall faces the road with a large entry way between road and hall. 1l1e staff at Humbercrest offer an affordable professional recording environment, a well maintained 9 foot New York Steinway Grand Piano, and they have even recently replaced one of the stained glass windows in the entry hallway with a plate glass window allowing the engineer, producer and performers to see each other. (111e heating and coolir1g The Halton Youth Symphony, Oakville l controls can be set by the staff to help further · reduce any unwanted noise.) Humbercrest 's acoustics are excellently suited to dedicated recording sessions with plenty of nice smooth reverb. Through careful microphone placement, artists and produeer can create almost any blend. Humbercrest remains one of the favourite spots for recording in Toronto with mention in many lin er notes of top notch recordings over the years. (Great for recorded sound, Humbercrest is less suitable for concerts, as the reverb overpowers the instruments by about the tenth row.) Please join us next issue for another instalment on factors to consider when choosi11g a location to record (highlighting St.Timothy's Anglican Church). Robert Hanson is the owner and operator of 11re Audio Group, specialising in classical/acoustic location recording and digital editing services. Please send commellls or questiollS by email to audiogrp@illlerlog. com, or by fax to (905) 420-8421. ROBIN HOWELL Expert Woodwind Repair for all single and dbl. reed insts., recorders and period winds Set-up, tuning voicing, maintenance and restoration done on premises. All work guaranteed. Insurance appraisals. Call for appointment. 416-534-6538 is now accepting applications for the position of Manager, to begin approximately March 1, 1998. Qualifications include demonstrated ability to manage the day to day operations of a youth orchestra with good organizational, computer and public liaison skills, notwithstanding the energy and enthusiasm to deal with the age group of 8 - 20. Responsibilities include a corn- FOR INQUIRIES , CONTACT mitment to seasonal Thursday Jody Orr, President night rehearsals and ongoing ( 905 • 844 • 2076 ). duties throughout the year as SEND RESUMES To: required. The Manager reports Hatton Youth Symphony, to the Board of Directors. P.o. Box 494, Salary range is ,000 - 5,500. Oakville, Ontario L6j SAS. D_ e a d l i n e _ F e b r u a r y 2 0 , 1 9 9 8 . TORONTO'S ONLY COMPREHENSIVE MONTHLY C-LASSICAL Cantilena, the theatrical music ensemble, has opening for qualified singers. Cantilena performs Classical, Musical Theatre, Folk, Spiritual, Sacred, Gospel, and Pop repertoire with elements of theatre added. PAID PERFORMANCES Calll-800-867-3281 for an audition and/ or for more information. CONTEMPORARY CONCERT LISTING SOURCE
