Volume 23 Issue 3 - November 2017

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Afghanistan: Requiem for a Generation
It has been almost 16 years since the official, Parliament-sanctioned
intervention by the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan began. In those
days of constant war headlines and combat deaths, our country was
at war on the other side of the planet. Afghanistan was a war unlike
others, constantly changing and evolving, fought against an often
unstructured and asymmetrical enemy. For those of us who read the
news here in Canada, this war also strongly shaped our country in
the last decade and a half. The war in Afghanistan has opened discussions
on a great number of complex issues like post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), the role of the Canadian Forces in international
conflicts, military investment, American imperialism, racism, child
combatants, pacifism and so much more.
Art, music included, has done much to allow and facilitate some
of these conversations,with its power to evoke contemplation and
create change. Into this discussion, on November 9 and 11, we insert
Afghanistan: Requiem for a Generation, including 130 choristers
from the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, 50 from the Toronto Children’s
Chorus, guest musicians from the Canadian Forces, the Toronto
Symphony Orchestra and soloists. The first half of this concert also
features Canadian Forces guests on pipes, bugle and text.
Tania Miller, music director of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra,
takes the helm for these performances. Miller was the first woman to
lead a major Canadian orchestra, ever, and her tenure began the year
following the start of the war in Afghanistan. She is joined by Measha
Brueggergosman, soprano; Allyson McHardy, mezzo-soprano; Colin
Ainsworth, tenor; and Brett Polegato, baritone.
The words come via Suzanne Steele, Canada’s war poet, who served
in Afghanistan. Jeffrey Ryan put the words to music, including text
from the requiem mass, alongside Steele’s poignant words which are
often set in repetition: “if we could give you two days, just two days...;”
“My son, my daughter, can you hear me?”
In the breaking open of lives lived and lost during war, music
can help bridge the experiences and provide a united focus. Ryan
P A X
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David Bowser
Artistic Director
J.S. BACH’S
CHRISTMAS ORATORIO
Cantatas I, II and III
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2017 • 8:00 PM
Gloria
The joie de vivre of the season
Poulenc Gloria
Duruflé Four Motets
Fauré Cantique de Jean Racine
Gounod Noël
Pax Christi Chorale with
Andrea Núñez and Daniel Norman
FEATURING
Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto | Elmer Iseler Singers | Lydia Adams, conductor | Monica Whicher, soprano
Marjorie Maltais, mezzo-soprano | Christopher Mayell, tenor | Dion Mazerolle, baritone
Single tickets: $55 | $50 | $20
For tickets, call (416) 446-0188
or (416) 217-0537
amadeuschoir.com | elmeriselersingers.com
Metropolitan United Church
56 Queen St E, Toronto
(at Queen St E and Church St,
two blocks east of Yonge St)
Saturday, December 16 2017, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, December 17 2017, 3:00 p.m.
Grace Church on-the-Hill,
300 Lonsdale Rd. Toronto
FOR TICKETS, VISIT
PAXCHRISTICHORALE.ORG
thewholenote.com November 2017 | 29