Volume 13 - Issue 2 - October 2007

Quoolibetby Allan Pu IkerThe True North BrassA concert I don't want tomiss is the True NorthBrass's CD launch,October 30 at noon at theRichard BradshawAmphitheatre in the FourSeasons Centre for thePerforming Arts. It isfitting that the launchshould take place there asthree members of thequintet are also membersof the Canadian OperaCompany Orchestra;Joan Watson is principalhorn, Raymond Tizzardis a member of thetrumpet section and ScottIrvine is the orchestra'stuba player. The CDitself, called "BeginningTrue North Brassto See the Light," afterthe Duke Ellington song,features the music of Canadian composers and arrangers, includingMorley Calvert, Jim McGrath, Howard Cable and ensemblemembers Alastair Kay and Scott Irvine. It also highlights the artistryof guest, Guido Basso, whose playing is unanimously admired bythe members of the ensemble and who performs on three tracks,including the title track. The CD is on the True North Brass's ownlabel; Phoenix Records Canada is the North American RadioPromoter.If you can't get to the concert you can, of course, buy the CD,either at www.truenorthbrass.com or at www.cdbaby.com, at Birdsand Beans Cafe in Mimico, or at "better" record shops.There will also be two more opportunities to hear the True NorthBrass live in the near future, as they will be performing a Christmasprogramme on November 30 in Lockport, New York, just east ofNiagara Falls and on December 9 in the historic beauty of St.Anne's Church in Toronto's west end.Often favourably compared with the Canadian Brass, the TrueNorth Brass is a very different ensemble in that all its memberswork elsewhere full-time as musicians. They also consider playingthe music of Canadian composers and arrangers as well as thecelebration, promotion and development of a distinctly Canadiantradition of brass playing to be central to their mission. For mymoney, having heard a number of brass quintets over the past fewyears, this ensemble is right at the top, with great sound from all itsmembers, great intonation and great panache.Amy DoolittleAmy Doolittle is a multifaceted musician, a flutist, singer andguitarist with an extensive performance background. Until two yearsago her life revolved around music, running her own arts business,2Music Studio, which encompassed a professional duo performingfolk, classical and Celtic music, instrumental instruction and artistrepresentation, as well as being the music director at the UnitarianCongregation of South Peel, and performing as a flutist from time totime in the Mississauga and Brampton Symphony Orchestras.Two years ago everything changed when she was diagnosed withALS, commonly know as Lou Gehrig's disease. With the prospectof rapidly progressing immobility she responded by making a CDwhile it was still possible. The CD, called "Everything So Far" hasjust been released. Although already she can neither sing nor playthe flute and now needs a wheelchair to get around, she is still ableto work at the Merriam School of Music. "The good side of this,"she told me, "is that now I get to be in the audience." Spirited asher comment was, Amy faces a difficult time ahead with loss ofincome and expenses a healthy person doesn't have. To help her andher husband, Don Dickson, deal with the situation a number ofmusical friends, including Alan Merriam, president of the MerriamSchool of Music, have organized a benefit concert at the RoseTheatre in Brampton on October 12 to raise money. Among theperformers will be Robert Aitken, one of Amy's teachers, and folklegend, Rik Emmett.I understandably felt compelled to write about this event becauseof the gravity of Ms. Doolittle's situation. I counted ten otherfundraising concerts in the October/early November listings. If everyWholeNote reader went to only one of these, they would all be soldoutand all the worthy causes they are supporting would be muchfurther ahead, so please consider getting out to one in the weeksahead.Distinguished VisitorsTwo distinguished European orchestras will visit in October; the LaScala Philharmonic with Canadian tenor, Ben Heppner, conductedby Riccardo Chailly will be at Roy Thomson Hall on October 9.The Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, conducted byKerry Stratton, will perform in Orillia, Kingston, Barrie, Milton andBelleville between October 10 and 14 and in Toronto on October 15.The Toronto Philharmonia, whose regular conductor is Stratton,will perform on October 18, led by guest conductor, RobertoPaternostro. As always, Music Toronto will be hosting a number ofdistinguished visitors including the Takacs Quartet on October 11and Quatuor Bozzini on November 1. The Toronto Symphony,meanwhile, will welcome guest conductor Thomas Dausgaard andviolinist Vadim Repin on October 3 and 4 in a program that willinclude Prokofiev's 2nc1 Violin Concerto. And always welcome, TSOconductor emeritus Sir Andrew Davis will be back on October 11,13 and 14.Soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa will be at Roy Thomson Hall onOctober 19 during her international Farewell Recital Tour withAmerican pianist Warren Jones to perform a program of art songs byMozart, Strauss, Puccini, Duparc, Poulenc, Wolf-Ferrari, Coplandand Britten. This will be her eighth and final time performing here,so if you have not experienced this great singer of our time, this willbe your last chance. Only a few weeks later, on November 25,Canadian soprano and our September cover story, Meas haBrueggergosman, will give the second of Roy Thomson Hall'sInternational Vocal Recitals Series.Annual Blue PagesOur October issue, as many of you know, contains our annual BluePages, an overview of the concert season just under way, in thewords of the presenters themselves. So in addition to a thoroughlook at the listings, preferably with highlighter in hand, treat yourselfto a readthrough of the 174 season profiles contained at the heart ofthis month's magazine. All the organizations profiled here supportWholeNote by their presence. I am sure that you will find amongthem one or another musical enterprise, previously unknown to you,worthy of your interest and support.Geo. I 1 ; D~ & Co. LimitedCONSERVATORS & PURVEYORSOF Fine & Rare Violins201 Church St.. Toronto. ON. M5B IY7 Email: ghcl@idirect.comTel: 416-363-0093 • Fax: 41 6 -363-0053www.georgeheinl.comCanada•s foremost violin experts.Proud of our heritage. Excited about the future.14 WWW.THEWHOLENOTE.COM OVEMBER 7 2007Back to Ad Index