Volume 19 Issue 9 - June/July/August 2014

into new birth.” Appropriately, Schafer’s keynote address is titled“Hearing the Earth as Song.”Although the conference occurs early in the month after manyWholeNote readers may have received their summer issue, the festivalprovides an important context for these larger questions of howmusical practice can participate in the restoration of the planet.The festival concerts range from soundscape music to Europeanbasedchamber, orchestral and choral, alongside African-themed,Korean, Balinese, Argentinian and First Nations music. For earlyrisers, there will be a dawn soundwalk on June 7 and on June 8, adawn concert at Columbia Lake that will include some of Schafer’smusic specifically written to interact with the natural environment.It will also include works by composers Emily Doolittle and JenniferButler, both of whom have been profoundly influenced by their longtimeinvolvement in Schafer’s wilderness collaborations. These wordsby Schafer sum it up: “Sing to the lake, and the lake will sing back!”The African Kalahari Desert is also featured prominently in thefestival and is the focus of the main evening event on June 7, whichcombines African traditional songs, African-influenced composedmusic and the second keynote address, “Hearing Songs from the Earth– Kalahari Soundscapes and Visuals,” by Gus Mills. Mills has spentmany years researching African large carnivores and will use recordingsand visuals to demonstrate the interaction between the behaviourof these species within an acoustic ecological framework. Earlierin the day, the concerts include a series of compositions created fromsoundscape recordings as well as the Grebel Gamelan performingtraditional music from Bali.The “Sonic Convergences Concert” on June 6 will feature fourorchestral pieces, each highlighting natural themes. Included isWeaver’s piece Kalahari Calls, influenced by her experiences inAfrica. The evening will conclude with Earth Songs by Korean artistCecilia Kim, a five-part multimedia piece combining music theatre,visuals and Korean traditional music. Texts for two of the songs arefrom the poetry book Where Calling Birds Gather by Canadian poetJohn Weier.One final observation I’d like to make about this festival is todraw attention to the Mennonite legacy of the host college ConradGrebel and its commitment to promoting nonviolence and justice.It is Weaver’s vision to expand that perspective to include peace andbalance for the earth that makes this festival such a landmark event.Open Ears: It seems that Waterloo is the place to be this June withthe return of the Open Ears festival. Now in its 16th year, it runs fromJune 5 to 15 offering ten days of performances, discussions and installationspresented in a range of different venues and programmedaround the overall theme of “Open Stories.” This year, the festival willbe running concurrently with an exhibition of contemporary visualart organized by the Contemporary Art Forum Kitchener and Area(CAFKA) which runs through to June 29. Some of the Open Ears highlightsinclude Griffin Poetry prize-winner and sound-artist ChristianBök (June 7); a concert combining viola da gamba and the hurdygurdy (June 9); the Penderecki String Quartet with music inspired byT.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets (June 10); the Nexus percussion ensembleappearing with Sepideh Raissadat, the first female vocalist to publiclyperform in Iran after the 1979 revolution (June 13); a performance ofSteve Reich’s epic work Drumming (June 14); and an opera marathon,featuring five new Canadian operas (June 15). There’s so much more inthis festival; I urge you to check out the Open Ears website.July: Moving into July and continuing with our theme of music inthe environment, we arrive at Stratford Summer Music and onto TomPercussion Island. From July 15 to July 20, the island will be filled withnine percussion-based instrumental exhibits on display for audiencesto engage with, including a tongue drum made from a hollowed-outapple tree trunk, fire drums made from cut and tuned fire extinguishers,a piano dulcimer made from a 110-year old piano flippedon its side and a Dream Gong Maze for you to get lost in. At varioustimes during the week, members of the percussion quartet TorQ willbe on the island to perform their own “pop-up concerts” or join withthe public in exploring the sounds of these instruments in the outsideenvironment.The TorQ quartet is in residence this year at SSM; in additionto their presence on Percussion Island they will be offeringthree concerts as well as running their annual Percussion Seminardesigned for university percussion students. Seminar participantswill offer outdoor “BargeMusic” performances and will join TorQ andguest faculty member Nebojsa Jovan Zivkovic on stage for the threeconcerts. Zivkovic, who now resides in Germany, is world-renownedas an expressive marimba and percussion artist and as a masterfulcomposer. His works will be showcased on the July 25 concert,including his piece Tak-nara that features more than 75 instrumentson stage. On July 20, TorQ will join with the Larkin Singers to performworks written for choir and percussion by Eric Whitacre, RihoMaimets and Colin Eatock. Their final concert on July 27 will includethe Canadian premiere of the 99-percussionist version of environmentalcomposer John Luther Adams’ Inuksuit.Other new music events at Stratford Summer Music include a paneldiscussion on percussion music at the annual Harry Somers Forumand a return visit by the Bicycle Opera Project, who will have pedalledfrom Waterloo after their performance in the Open Ears opera marathonearlier in June. The bicycle performers provide a car-free alternativeto touring along with two collections of short operas and excerpts,including pieces recently talked about in this column: L’Homme et leciel by Adam Scime and Airline Icarus by Brian Current and AntonSpadina Museum: Historic House & GardensJune EventsMusic in the OrchardSundays in June1:30 to 2:30 p.m.Pay-what-you-wishGatsby Garden PartySunday, June 2212 to 5 p.m.$5, 12 yrs. & under FREESpadina’s popular outdoor musicalperformances return. Bring a blanket. Bringa picnic. Bring the whole family.Come in 1920’s garb, participate inour costume contest, learn to charlestonwith the Sugar Shakers and enjoy livejazz music with performances by theMaple Leaf Champion Jug Band.toronto.ca/museum-eventsSpadinaMuseum@SpadinaMuseum16 | June 4, 2014 – Sept 7, 2014 thewholenote.com