Volume 25 Issue 3 - November 2019
On the slim chance you might not have already heard the news, Estonian Canadian composing giant Udo Kasemets was born the same year that Leo Thermin invented the theremin --1919. Which means this is the centenary year for both of them, and both are being celebrated in style, as Andrew Timar and MJ Buell respectively explain. And that's just a taste of a bustling November, with enough coverage of music of both the delectably substantial and delightfully silly on hand to satisfy one and all.
On the slim chance you might not have already heard the news, Estonian Canadian composing giant Udo Kasemets was born the same year that Leo Thermin invented the theremin --1919. Which means this is the centenary year for both of them, and both are being celebrated in style, as Andrew Timar and MJ Buell respectively explain. And that's just a taste of a bustling November, with enough coverage of music of both the delectably substantial and delightfully silly on hand to satisfy one and all.
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• THE ANNUAL •<br />
City<br />
CAROL<br />
SING<br />
In collaboration<br />
with<br />
SATURDAY<br />
DECEMBER 7 | 2:00PM<br />
YORKMINSTER PARK BAPTIST CHURCH<br />
HOST<br />
Dina Pugliese<br />
SPECIAL GUESTS<br />
Murray McLauchlan<br />
Marc Jordan<br />
Ian Thomas<br />
FEATURING<br />
HOGTOWN BRASS<br />
Bach Children’s Chorus<br />
Yorkminster Park Baptist Church Choir<br />
Hedgerow Singers<br />
William Maddox, Organ<br />
Eric Robertson, Conductor<br />
Beat by Beat | Choral Scene<br />
Choral Relevance<br />
Amidst Today’s<br />
Disarray<br />
MENAKA SWAMINATHAN<br />
music is not one of life’s frills. It’s something that<br />
goes to the very heart of our humanity, our sense of<br />
“C,horal<br />
community, and our souls.” – John Rutter<br />
Some of my earliest memories of community are from being a<br />
member of choir. It has always held great prominence in my life. A<br />
few weeks ago, I watched a short YouTube video from J.W. Pepper<br />
of an interview with John Rutter, a renowned composer of choral<br />
music. Although the clip is only a few minutes long, his words resonated<br />
with me, for he spoke so eloquently and profoundly of the significance<br />
of choir.<br />
My Introduction to the Choral World<br />
I was seven years old when my family immigrated to Canada. Shortly<br />
after settling down in Toronto, my mother became involved with<br />
the choir of our then-community church as their pianist. Soon after,<br />
she encouraged my sister and me to join it. In addition to singing in<br />
church, my sister and I also became members of a choir called VOCE,<br />
a children’s choir affiliated with the Toronto Catholic District School<br />
Board. The rehearsals were held at Cardinal Carter Academy for the<br />
Arts. (We would go on to attend the high school a few years later.)<br />
Because I was considerably younger than the other members of<br />
the church choir, attending rehearsals weekly was something I did<br />
primarily because of my mother. However, being part of VOCE, with<br />
other singers my own age, was a completely different experience. As<br />
Rutter says during the interview, “When you get together with a group<br />
of other singers […] all of those people are pouring out their hearts<br />
and souls in perfect harmony.” I felt at ease in choir as I mingled with<br />
like-minded children; all of us bonding over music, learning our<br />
parts together, competing for solos but also supporting one another. I<br />
remember having a lot of fun.<br />
ADMISSION FREE<br />
A collection will be taken for<br />
the Churches on-the-Hill Food Bank<br />
Yorkminster Park<br />
Baptist Church<br />
1585 Yonge St. (1 block north of St. Clair Ave.)<br />
YORKMINSTERPARK.COM | 9SPARROWSARTS.ORG<br />
28 | <strong>November</strong> <strong>2019</strong> thewholenote.com
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