Volume 21 Issue 2 - October 2015

Deeply Political
Music
BRIAN CHANG
Teddy Abrams is the
28-year-old conductor
of the Louisville
Orchestra. His youth is not
for a lack of experience and
talent. At the end of the
summer he was featured
by PBS as the youngest
artistic director of a major
American orchestra. He
spoke of many philosophical
questions that are affecting
live instrumental music. One
in particular has stuck with
me, and that’s his belief that
artistic organizations need
Beat by Beat | Choral Scene
Nathaniel Dett Chorale
to continue to create a positive direction for our society. He challenges
himself and his musicians to think about the ways in which they can
bring together, collaborate with and energize the communities they
touch. And he sees important elements of civic, social and political life
in music.
These big questions are inevitably lost in the competitive musical
life of Toronto and the surrounding areas. I have yet to meet a musical
organization that exists solely for the creation of a better society, in
so many words; but, on the other hand, if so many of us did not have
positive experiences with live music, why would we contribute so
much of ourselves towards it?
In the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (of which I am a member), each
chorister spends over 150 hours in more than 50 rehearsals each
season, apart from personal practice time. Add my other ensembles
to the mix, the Scarborough Concert Band and Incontra Vocal
Ensemble, and easily eight hours of my week are spent in rehearsals
or doing music. When I conducted the UTSC Alumni and Community
Choir the commitment was drastically higher with preparation, technique,
and score study. Live music is not an insignificant commitment
to bring to fruition. But the result is unlike any other. The collaborative
nature of music requires the blending of myriad forces into a cohesive
engine that can lead in many directions. And yes, they can present
ideas, stories and thoughts on deeply political and social issues. A few
upcoming performances truly showcase this ability.
Hail October! With October hailing the true start to the musical
performance season, there are many performances ahead. Bravo
Niagara’s North Star Festival is early in the month from October 2 to 4.
This inaugural festival is endorsed by the UNESCO Slave Route Project.
At St. Mark’s Anglican in Niagara-on-the-Lake on October 3 at 7:30pm
the Nathaniel Dett Chorale presents “Freedom has a Voice.” The
Chorale will be featuring Lift Every Voice and Sing by James Wheldon
Johnson, a song written in 1899. A contemporary of Canadian
Nathaniel Dett, Johnson would make his name as a writer, composer
and dignitary in his position as executive secretary of the U.S. National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for a
decade. During the civil rights era, Lift Every Voice and Sing would
become an anthem of the people throughout the movement.
Niagara, an important terminus on the Underground Railroad,
is the perfect place for Bravo Niagara to honour the important goal
of many looking for freedom. Such spirituals as Wade in the Water
and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot have histories connected to the
Underground Railroad. These songs are now staples of modern choral
tradition but were once relegated to minstrel shows, their powerful
history perverted in racist processes of minstrelsy and blackface.
Dett and Johnson were two of many musicians who revived these
spirituals and re-elevated them from their degradation. With Polaris,
the North Star, leading people onwards to Niagara, the region was a
haven unlike any other. And the culture and peoples who braved this
perilous journey have left an indelible and beautiful history for us to
commemorate. I hope this is the first of many years for this festival.
Wilfred Laurier University’s “Sing Fires of Justice 10th Anniversary
Concert,” honouring missing and murdered indigenous women,
takes place at St. Matthews Lutheran Church in Kitchener, October 4
at 7pm. Choirs from
WLU, the University
of Waterloo, the
Mino Ode Kwewak
N’Gamowak (Good
Hearted Women
Singers) and many
other guests are
featured: music
continues to be a
salient and powerful
tool in exploring
communal trauma,
sharing stories
and celebrating.
Admission is by
freewill donation with funds going towards the Mino Ode Kwewak
N’Gamowak.
Buffy Sainte-Marie: The pathways that lead to the creation of music,
the sharing of music, and the performance of music are many. These
deeply social, economic and political issues are heightened through
music. Dett’s and Johnson’s history, stories and sense of justice were
strongly linked to their musical expression. And for indigenous
women in Canada, one only has to look at the artistic practices of
the last two years of Polaris Prize winners – Tanya Tagaq and Buffy
Celebrating 35 Years!
Friday, October 23, 2015, 8:00 pm
Stories of Remembrance
Friday, December 4, 2015, 8:00 pm
Stories of the Season
Friday, April 1, 2016, 8:00 pm
Stories of Love and Longing
Friday, May 27, 2016, 8:00 pm
Stories of Peace and Justice
Special guests, DaCapo Chamber Choir
For tickets or more information:
416-971-9229 www.exultate.net
an Ontario government agency
un organisme du gouvernement de l’Ontario
thewholenote.com Oct 1 - Nov 7, 2015 | 29