Volume 25 Issue 1 - September 2019

FOR OPENERS | DAVID PERLMAN
“LUDWIG Has
Just Reached
40,000!”
The Ludwig of the title above is not a reference to Wittgenstein or
van Beethoven. (Nor is it a reference to Ludwig Van Toronto, the
online blog, once called Musical Toronto, that is an indispensable
and entertaining part of the fabric of media and social media support
for classical music in this town.)
When our listings editor John Sharpe came over to my desk a few
days ago to say LUDWIG had reached the 40,000 mark, he was referring
to the fact that he had just approved for publication the 40,000th
entry to be processed in the listings database, code name LUDWIG,
that has been, for nine years, the engine room of one of the key
services that the The WholeNote provides for the music community
in these parts. That’s not to say 40,000 is some kind of magic number
in terms of the total number of listings we’ve published, in print and
online, in our 24 seasons of documenting live music in our town –
something around double that would probably be closer to the mark.
But it ain’t nothin’ neither.
The acronym, by the way, stands for “Listings Utility Database (for)
WholeNote Information Gathering” and we even, for a little while ran
cute ads in the magazine (featuring grumpy pictures of Beethoven,
of course) informing readers that if they wanted to access music by
a specific genre or geographic zone they were interested in, or by
keyword for that matter, they could go online and ASK LUDWIG. You
can still do those things, of course, but on the website, if that’s what
you’re trying to do, it now simply says JUST ASK.
“So what is that momentous 40,000th listing for?” I hear the
regular followers of this Opener both asking. Well, it just happens to
be a performance at 1pm on Sunday October 6, at Mazzoleni Concert
Hall in the Royal Conservatory,titled “There’s a Lady on Stage”;
hosted by pianist/vocalist David Ramsden accompanying not one
but three accomplished “ladies” – namely vocalists Lori Yates, Tabby
Johnson and Theresa Tova, with free tickets available starting Monday
September 30. (The original Quiet Please! There’s a Lady on Stage,
some may remember, was a project Ramsden launched in the 80s
at the Cameron House (where the title of the show definitely made
sense) with some of Canada’s most talented female vocalists.)
“Why are you telling us this?” my loyal readers both ask. No good
reason except that it feels good to me that this milestone listing
happens to be for a grassroots, free concert, in one of our more intimate
halls, reflecting a commitment on behalf of that particular
presenter to program creatively, and on our part, faithfully to record
what’s actually happening in a live music scene where the work of
people for whom music is serious fun is a more important criterion
for inclusion in what we list than the “seriousness” by whatever
criteria we define it, of the music itself.
Robert Harris, in his Rearview Mirror column in this issue,
on page 76, is perhaps talking about something similar when he
muses, hopefully, on a world of classical music “augmented by new
consciousnesses, expanded to include elements of styles that already
have their audiences, thereby liberating classical music from its
depleting dependence on repertoire that, every year, departs further
and further from the concerns of the modern world…”
May the next 40,000 listings in this magazine continue to evolve to
reflect that change!
So another season (our 25th!) is off and running, so here’s wishing
us all luck, and it’s great to have you back. And speaking of running,
I should mention that Brian Chang our regular choral columnist and
passionate advocate for community arts is doing some running of a
different kind, as a parliamentary candidate for the federal riding of
Toronto Centre. (Thank you Menaka Swaminathan for stepping into
the breach in his absence.)
The question of support for funding for the arts is always a topic
around election time at all levels of government, but too often as a
kind of siloed separate thing, with support for culture and support for
community concerns running the risk of becoming polarized opposites,
and candidates or party score points for their support of one by
pooh-poohing concerns for the other.
More to the point this time round, in my opinion, might be to
support individuals running for office who recognize that most arts
workers in our society are no less marginalized than many other
workers – dealing with the same issues, especially in our cities –
housing insecurity; a healthcare system with too many rotten planks
in areas of greatest vulnerability. (Read Lydia Perović’s “Mysterious
Barricades and Systemic Barriers” on page 40 in this issue for more on
this.) Many of us are becoming increasingly unable to afford to participate
as consumers in the industries, cultural and otherwise, that by
our labours we help to build and maintain, or to dwell within the
towns and cities where we ply our trades.
Maybe this time round, we should keep score of how many times
our candidates (of all political stripes) talk about “the middle class”,
and take away a point every time they do, for automatically assuming
that that includes you and me. In each and every riding may the best
mensch win.
publisher@thewholenote.com
Upcoming Dates & Deadlines for our OCTOBER 2019 edition
Free Event Listings Deadline
Midnight, Sunday September 8
Display Ad Reservations Deadline
6pm Monday September 16
Advertising Materials Due
6pm Wednesday September 18
Classifieds Deadline
6pm Saturday September 21
Publication Date
Tuesday September 24 (online)
Friday September 27 (print edition)
The Blue Pages Directory of
Music Makers 2019/2020
Deadline for submissions: SEPTEMBER 9!
contact: karen@thewholenote.com
Volume 25 No 2 “OCTOBER”
will list events
October 1 to November 7, 2019
WholeNote Media Inc. accepts
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claims made for any product or
service reported on or advertised
in this issue
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