Volume 31 Issue 2 - November & December 2025

The WholeNoteVOLUME 31

The WholeNoteVOLUME 31 NO 2NOVEMBER & DECEMBER 2025IN THIS EDITIONSTORIES AND INTERVIEWSWendalyn Bartley, Vania Chan, Angus MacCaull,Jennifer Parr, David Perlman, Andrew ScottCD ReviewersSam Dickinson, Michael Doloschell,Raul da Gama, Tiina Kiik, Kati Kiilaspea,Lesley Mitchell-Clarke, Cheryl Ockrant,David Olds, Ted Parkinson, Terry Robbins,Andrew Scott, Michael Schulman,Yoshi Maclear Wall, Ken Waxman.ProofreadingDavid Olds, Ted Parkinson, John SharpeListings TeamJohn Sharpe, Kevin Harris, Gary Heard,Kevin King, Sophia PerlmanDesign TeamKevin King, Susan SinclairCirculation TeamDave Bell, John Bentley, Jack Buell, Jane Dalziel,Bruno Difilippo, Carl Finkle, Vito Gallucci,James Harris, Miguel Brito-Lopez,Chris Malcolm, Lorna Nevison, Janet O’Brien,Tom SeppDEADLINESWeekly Online Listings Updates6pm every Thursday for the following ThursdayPrint listings deadline:for Volume 31 No. 3, January & February 20266pm Tuesday, Dec 9, 2025Print advertising, reservation deadline:6pm Tuesday, Dec 9, 2025Web advertising can be booked at any timePUBLICATION DATESOUR 31st SEASONincludes six print editions:Vol 31 no 1 | September 16, 2025Vol 31 no 2 | October 21, 2025;Vol 31 no 3 | January 6, 2026;Vol 31 no 4 | February 24, 2026;Vol 31 no 5 | April 21, 2026;Vol 31 no 6 | June 23, 2026.Printed in CanadaCouto Printing & Publishing Servicesan Ontario government agencyun organisme du gouvernement de l’OntarioON OUR COVERAmakaUmehATtime of writing, Amaka Umeh is in rehearsal, as The Witch in the upcomingSoulpepper/Crow’s Theatre co-production of Bad Hats Theatre’s Narnia –based on C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.This past April, Umeh was also at Soulpepper, immersed in preparation for the role ofThought 2 in a Soulpepper multi-partner co-production of American playwright, composerand lyricist Michael R. Jackson’s Pulitzer-and Tony Award-winning musical A Strange Loop.As part of the Soulpepper promotional lead-up to that show, members of the cast werevideoed, responding initially to the same question: what advice would they have for theirmuch younger selves?Perhaps with her six-year old self in mind (standing in the bright light of a Lagos stage,bewildered that her audience was sitting in the dark) Umeh had a ready response.“The advice I would give is, yeah, do it just like that. Perfect. You’re flawless. But alsoembrace your mistakes, don’t let them define you. Atula egwu. Don’t be afraid.”It’s advice the younger Umeh seems have absorbed every step of the way. When she foundherself in the spotlight of public awareness as the first woman to play the role of Hamlet at theStratford Festival in 2022. (She had been asked to audition for both Hamlet and Ophelia). Andbefore that, at Randolph College for the Performing Arts in Toronto, and after that at Stratford’sBirmingham Conservatory. And in three previous Soulpepper shows between 2022 and 2024:Kink in my Hair (2022); Sizwe Banzi is Dead (2023); and Three Sisters (2024). And in life, withall its visibilities and invisibilities.Further on in that short promotional video for A Strange Loop, Umeh says this aboutMichael R. Jackson’s work: “I was introduced to the musical a couple of years back and mymind was blown. Choral music is one of my favourite things. I’m also interested to see how wetreat this very real, yes, unsavoury but relevant piece of black history, of queer history, blacklife, of queer life, and see how we treat that in the room, both for the company inhabiting andresponsible for it, and how we treat it for the audience.” (My italics.)A step down from there, one might assume, to playing The Witch in Narnia six months later.Well, maybe. But then again, maybe not – for a performer who understands their artistic rolein a show as being “a member of a company inhabiting and responsible for it”. As the sayinggoes, there are no small roles, only small actors.Narnia’s creators at Bad Hats Theatre describe it as “a story about the changing seasons ofour lives, found families, and how we learn to say goodbye.” It sounds like an ageless story –and a world worth inhabiting, for the right artist in good company.T'KARONTODavid PerlmanFor thousands of years before European settlement, T’karonto (The Meeting Place) was partof the traditional territory of many Nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit River,the Anishinaabe, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples, and remainstheir home to this day, as it now is for many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples.This Meeting Place lies within the territory governed by the Sewatokwa’tshera’t (Dishwith One Spoon) treaty between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas and Haudenosaunee– a Treaty which bound them to share the territory and protect the land. SubsequentIndigenous Nations and Peoples, and all newcomers are invited into this treaty in the spiritof peace, friendship, respect and reconciliation. We are grateful to live and work here,helping spread the word about the healing power of music in this place.8 | November & December 2025 thewholenote.com

FOR OPENERSCritical Masswas all set to call this last Opener of 2025 “Flagships and tugboats”I and that’s definitely part of what’s on my mind. But only part.Critical mass in the strictest sense, is defined as the minimum massof fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Or, byextension, what’s the least amount of some very potent stuff you need,to not only make a splash, but to keep the thing going?Where I live, for example Critical Mass is the name of a form ofdirect collective action in which people travel, at an agreed locationand time, as a sufficiently large group on bicycles to ride safelythrough their streets. It’s satisfying. And gets a reaction. But whatwill it take to become self-sustaining? Maybe even help change theworld a little?Setting aside the “Critical” part for the moment, let’s just look at“Mass.” As a musical term it still most often refers to composed worksthat set to music Christian liturgical texts surrounding the sharedexperience of Holy Communion. Sometimes these are sung a cappella;sometimes accompanied by instrumental obbligatos, up to andincluding a full orchestral score.Over time, they have morphed into concert works, rather than themusical clothing for the celebration of an actual mass. In most concertsettings, however, attendees have to wait for intermission to eat anddrink, which sort of misses the central point of the Eucharistic sharedexperience. But concerts such as these bring this music into theears, and sometimes hearts, of a lot more people these days. And ofcourse, the Mass is not only the only sacred scaffolding for composers.Sprawling oratorios became the pop concerts (including singalongs) inthe latter part of the 19th century, offering an exhilaratingly nice time,while ensuring that “naughty” got left at the door.At some point the simple act of gathering in numbers to listen,and even get to sing along, becomes the individual act of devotion,whether it be in the form of a mass or oratorio, within the widerconstructs of lyric theatre. The point is to illuminate somethingsacred, ask important questions, connect with one another on a deeplevel about things where sometimes words alone are not enough. Andsometimes achieve the minimum mass of common cause needed tokeep something of critical importance moving along.Like those urban cyclists gathering in sufficient numbers to feelsafe, voluntary shared experience makes a darkening season feelwarmer and safer, whether we lift our voices in praise, or at the otherend of the spectrum, exercise the right to be just plain uproariouslysilly. Because if we cannot get together and just laugh until we cry, weare all in serious trouble.Flagships and tugboats?The point is this. Print has always been our flagship publication,while at the same time carrying the cargo essential to our readers– timely information about opportunities for engagement with livemusic as an act of devotion in the broadest possible sense. But havingsettled into a bimonthly print cycle, timely is the commodity that ismost at risk. Six new listings have come into my inbox while writingthis, hours away from going to press.So enjoy the plethora of what’s here. But please, if you haven’talready, use the QR code or web link on page 24 to sign up for ourWeekly Updates. Moving forward, they are the tugboats of our fleet,coming and going with an alacrity print can’t match.David Perlman can be reached at publisher@thewholenote.comCityCAROLSINGIn collaborationwithSaturdayDecember 6, 2:00 p.m.FREE ADMISSIONYORKMINSTER PARK BAPTIST CHURCH1585 Yonge St. (1 block north of St. Clair Ave.)HOSTDevo BrownSPECIAL GUESTSBarbara LicaANDJeff LillicoHELP FEEDTORONTO’S HUNGRYDonations 0f cash and non-perishable fooditems will be taken the day of the concert.Yorkminster ParkBaptist ChurchCITYCAROLSING.CA | 9SPARROWSARTS.ORGthewholenote.com November & December 2025 | 9