Volume 4 Issue 7 - April 1999

4 John McGuigan is

4 John McGuigan is currently the administrative secretary of the Canadian Band Association (Ontario Chapter). His main function is the editing of the quarterly magazine "Fanfare" and to maintain records and offices for , the association. He also owns and operates "COMPRINT" a publishing house for new Canadian music. He can be contacted by fax or phone at 905-826-5542 MUSICFEST IS A GRAND UNDERTAKING This May I 8th to 22nd will be a loud and eventful celebration of Canadian school banding as the annual finals of Musicfest Canada ring out at the York University campus. Each of the performing gands will be representing a different area of Canada. They have been · invited as a result of their performances at various regional festivals across the country. . . A recent regional was held at the Northern Ontario Band Festival in Sudbury. 23 bands and two choirs contested for gold. silver and bronze medals at this event which took all of Saturday and Sunday to complete. Each band performed for the panel of judges and, spent some time with one of them going over their work. The Saturday evening was set aside for a concert by the Mississauga Pops Concert Bancl. Some of the more successful bands will be invited to the National Finals at York University in May. There they will not only be subjected to another adjudication but will also . have many extra learning opportunities. There will be many concerts to attend including a Tommy Banks Jazz Ensemble featuring some of the best musicians in Canada, The Canadian Brass, The Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Shirley Eikhard, and the National Y

-6 ehind the Scenes -Camillo de Liberato BY DAWN LYONS; PHOTO, DEN CIUL We're northbound on Church Street, looking for number 504. We cross Dundas, stop for the light at Carlton Street and· observe a moment of silence for poor old Maple f,eaf Gardens. Another two blocks north and we spot our destination: Gatsby s Restaurant. Set between a parking lot and a fetish leather store, it looks like a tum-of-the century gentlemen s club transplanted from Sherlock Holmes' London. We find a place to park on nearby Maitland Street and cross Church. A small man with a wann smile and eyes like Bambi welcomes us at the door. "Hello, I am Camillo de Liberato." He looks uncertainly at my partner's camera. "Is this OK? When we 1 are open I dress, but now, I am cleaning ... " It's OK, my partner likes the contrast of the white jacket against the dark panelling. TI1e cosy British club atmosphere continues inside ~­ the tables are set with snowy napkins on English china, there are lnmting prints on the .walls and gas lights, real ones. "How do you light them?" Camillo produces a barbecue lighting wand from the kitchen, flips a switch on the wall and, standing on a chair, lights the gas chandelier over our table. We begin our interview in wann gaslight flickering through crystal pendants onto white linen. Cool! Me: Camillo, your restaurant seems to be a focal point for opera. You have had singers perfonning here on Saturday nights for several years, there was a tribute bmnch here for Canadian singer Clarice Carson, the one for Louis Quilico -­ what's witi1 you and opera? Camillo smiles and slm1gs: "We-e-e-ll, I am Italian ... " Me: "That's it?" Camillo laughs: "Some things you can't explain, it is all in the tradition. I grew up in Italy, in a village. My partner, Guiseppe Siela, was bom in ti1e same village, in the same year, went to the same school. We married sisters. He cooks, I nm the front." Me: "And he loves opera, too?" Camillo looks meful: "Not so nn~ch, but he likes it." Me: "So how did opera in the restaurant start? Camillo: "Well, about five years ago, a little more, a friend of mine came in with a friend of his one night, it was late in ti1e evening, and he said; 'Wow, what a gorgeous place, the acoustic would be wonderful, we should do opera here in the weekends.' It was late, and you don't know, so. I said OK, come bac~ .in the daytime. Well, he came back and so we started on June 4, five years ago. Opening night was quite an evening." Me: Do you sing, did you ever want to be an opera singer? Camillo is almost scandalized: "Oh no, I can't do that! But I like to help them out. TI1ey work so hard and ti1e market, the future, is so limited." patron of the arts, ti1en? Camillo hesitates, looking for a way to make me understand: "I thought, it would be nice, we should have it more like this. Why not sharing this with people who can use it? Our customers are mostly 35 and over. You can Me: Do you consider yours~lf a · come in here and you want just a It's music to your ears! Monthly payments from just .86 YAMAHA I DIGITAL PIANOS from just ,795 ( On approved credit) YAMAHA" qiGIT'filJF!aZfa Pick the First Choice of The Royal Conservatory of Ml.1sic WALTERS MUSIC CENTRES SQUARE ONE YORKDALE SCARBOROUGH (905)896-7766 . (416) 785-7444 (416) 296-8840 T ORONTO:S ONLY COMPREHENSIVE CLASSICAL & CONTEMPORARY CONCERT LISTING SOURCE WORLD CLASS DIGITAL RECORDING CD MASTERING & MANUFACTURING . ... the very essence of jidetity." Alan Lofft, Sound and Vision informative . re, please call .. 10-8248 MOBILE RECOilDING FACILITY live multitrack recording for: • Club gigs & concerts • Remote studio sessions 1 • Broadcast mixing & recording RECORD YOUR NEXT RElEASE OR DEMO /.11/Ef Classical Pop Rock Choral jazz Gospel 0 416.410.4918 www.bigfoot.com/-squashsound