Volume 27 Issue 4 - February 2022

Mark Williams
Gemma New
RUSSELL LEE
ROY COX
leads the TSO in a concert featuring crowd-pleasing works that were
shared digitally during the early days of the pandemic: Dvořák’s
Slavonic Dance No.8; Beethoven’s Violin Romance No.2; Mozart’s
Symphony No.29 K201; Vivian Fung’s Prayer; and Aaron Copland’s
restorative Appalachian Spring.
Mark Williams: on the corporate side of things, the TSO has
announced the appointment of Mark Williams to be the orchestra’s
new CEO as of April 2022. Williams has held positions at the San
Francisco Symphony and IMG Artists New York, prior to his current
role as chief artistic and operations officer at The Cleveland Orchestra,
where he oversees all aspects of artistic planning and programming,
touring and orchestra operations.
Williams, who holds a bachelor of music degree in horn performance,
is quoted in the announcement: “This is an orchestra with
immense musical gifts, big ambitions, limitless energy and a desire
to connect with its community through music. I look forward to
forging deep and long-lasting relationships with Torontonians,
and getting to know the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s dedicated
patrons, subscribers and donors. I have been privileged to work with
Gustavo Gimeno for many years as a guest conductor at The Cleveland
Orchestra, and I feel confident that our strong partnership will
achieve his artistic vision for Toronto’s great orchestra. My husband
Joseph and I are eager to call Toronto, one of the world’s greatest cities,
home,” said Williams.
An interesting footnote on the relationship between the two
orchestras: onetime TSO interim CEO Gary Hanson, who preceded
Matthew Loden at the TSO in 2016, had been executive director of
The Cleveland Orchestra from 2004 to 2015 during the time Williams
was hired there; Williams, in turn, while at Cleveland, hired current
TSO music director, Gustavo Gimeno, for his Cleveland Orchestra
conducting debut.
“I have worked with Mark for many years,” Gimeno added. “And I
am really thrilled that he will be leading our great orchestra. … I know
that I will have an ideal partner.”
KWS
Andrei Feher
Also rejoining the live-concert
fray will be The Kitchener-
Waterloo Symphony (KWS)
performing for live, in-person
audiences once again on
February 11, after a 23-month
hiatus, within the window of the
difficult 500-cap capacity restrictions
in place until February 20.
The KWS solution? They have
added a second performance on Saturday, February 12 at Centre In
The Square. There will be plenty of space to keep patrons safe and
comfortable in the 2,000-seat concert hall.
“It is going to be an amazing atmosphere returning to the stage for
live audiences again for two shows that weekend,” said music director
Andrei Feher. “We musicians feed off the energy in the building and
are beyond excited to perform for live audiences once again.”
Feher is joined by Canadian superstar pianist Charles Richard-
Hamelin for Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto. “It is an incredible piece
that was well before its time, a true gift that Beethoven gave the
world,” said Feher. “Emperor is triumphant, filled with beauty, and
Charles is the perfect person to perform this concerto with us.”
HPO
Touch wood, Hamilton concert-goers will also finally get the chance
to renew their acquaintance with Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra
(HPO) music director, Gemma New, on March 19 for “Gemma
conducts Mendelssohn”. Her previously scheduled appearance on
January 29, 2022 was cancelled, so this will be her first appearance
with the HPO since the pandemic began.
The March 19 Mendelssohn concert features Canadian violinist
Susanne Hou performing Mendelssohn’s consummate Violin
Concerto. Also on the program is the premiere of a new work by
HPO 2021-22 composer fellow, Maria Eduarda Mendes Martins,
composed after six months of mentorship with music director New
and composer-in-residence Abigail Richardson-Schulte. That work
will be followed by Bizet’s effervescent Symphony in C, a favourite of
legendary conductor Sir Thomas Beecham.
“I hold close the memories of our joyous concerts together prior to
the pandemic,” said New. “I used to see live music performance as an
invincible art form. Now it feels like it is a rare and precious experience,
that I am so grateful to create when the circumstances make
it possible. I’m glad to have such a phenomenal team to work with
through these tough times, as we patiently hope, resiliently create and
carefully plan for better days.”
Classical Music Festivals Canada (CMFC)
Meanwhile, Stratford Summer Music artistic director Mark Fewer
and James Campbell, artistic director of Festival of the Sound, have
launched Classical Music Festivals Canada (CMFC), a collaboration
among 11 Ontario festivals. The free online video chamber music
festival started with a bang on January 28, with each of the participating
Festivals, launching their contribution to the 11-concert slate.
All will now be available on demand online at classicalmusicfestivals.ca.
“As we approached our colleagues at different festivals,” Fewer said,
“one thing was abundantly clear – we all feel more collaborative and
open than ever before, and the results show it! You’ll find interviews
with each festival director and host Eric Friesen at the start of each
presentation, followed by a one-hour concert of music that showcases
just how world-class we are here in Ontario! You can click on
12 | February 2022 thewholenote.com