LAUREN BEATTY: ACTOR, WRITER, MUSICIAN DECLARES, “I THINK THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR ME AS A CREATIVE PERSON IS BEING DUBBED A “CREATIVE PERSON.” IT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE I HAVE TO CONSTANTLY FIT SOME SORT OF MOULD OR STANDARD. I DON’T BELIEVE THERE IS A STANDARD FOR CREATIVITY”…A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on April 12, 2018 by strecker

Lauren BeattyJAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, or have done, in the arts, what would you say?

LAUREN BEATTY: Lauren Beatty is an actor, writer and musician, I believe my job is to educate and elevate humanity by telling stories that excite, entice, intrigue and open people’s minds to a different perspective. My main focus is on the female outlook, and LGBTQ love & life.

JS: What important beliefs do you express in or through your work?

LB: The most important overall belief that I want to express is that we are all equals. That being said, we clearly don’t all have the same experiences in life. I believe every individual’s experience is just as valid and worthy of exploring as the next, and that hearing a variety of stories from different perspectives throughout our life helps us to better navigate our own lives, by elevating our awareness/humanity and therefore our very existence.

JS: Name two people, living or dead, whom you admire a great deal and tell us why for each one.

LB: Leisha Hailey, Actress & Musician: She most notably played – my favourite character ever written – “Alice” on “The L Word” and is an openly queer/feminine actress and musician like myself. I’d like to commiserate with her about that, hear her stories from her time working on the show, play some music with her, let her know that ‘Alice’ helped me realize I was Queer, and also become her best friend.

Kristen Wiig, Actress, who needs no introduction: Kristen is my actual, literal idol. Words cannot express the amount of adoration and pure love I have for this woman. She is so unapologetically awkward and funny, and this is truly the way I want to live my life. To me, she’s just the pure form of joy and playfulness and light in a human being. Would love to do some improv with her and also become her best friend…

JS: How have you changed since you began to do creative work?

LB: I’ve been doing creative work since I was just a wee little thing, before I even knew that’s what I was doing. (i.e. performing my own made up monologues while gazing out the window because I knew my mother was listening, putting on a news broadcast in my front yard for my brother and the neighbouring children, “reading” books to my family before I could read, and stealing the family camcorder to film plays featuring my barbies as well as hosting my own ‘Antiques Roadshow’…) However, since I started doing it professionally, I do think I have changed quite a bit.

Being creative grounds me in who I am. I have never felt more like myself than when I am creating and playing. It brings me the utmost calm and exhilaration simultaneously. It allows me to feel so deeply, and to navigate my way through my life more freely. I’d say the most major change is that when I was young, I saw being creative as something fun to do – but now, I see how utterly vital it is to my existence.

JS: What are your biggest challenges as a creative person?

LB: I think the biggest challenge for me as a creative person, is being dubbed a “creative person”. It makes me feel like I have to constantly fit some sort of mould or standard. I don’t believe there is a standard for creativity. You might feel at a creative peak one day, and completely blocked off the next – or for days at a time. But this doesn’t make you any less creative. I think my biggest challenge has been accepting that. Giving my creativity room to breathe and expand in its own time – trying not to force/push it. I think of creativity like a rope, you don’t push a rope but instead you the pull it in the direction you want it to go. Forced creativity feels different and it doesn’t fill that void. When the organic, unbridled creativity decides to rear its head though- that’s when I’m reminded that the challenges of being an artist are worth it. I live for those moments.

JS: Please describe at least one major turning point in your life.

LB: One of the biggest turning points for me was when I decided to drop out of university and move to Toronto to audition for acting programs here. I was halfway through my first year at Ottawa University studying theatre at the time. I woke up one morning and had this overwhelming feeling of, “Well shit. This isn’t where I’m supposed to be…” I wasn’t happy, something felt off/wrong. I was just reading plays and writing essays. I wanted to be acting, performing – living and breathing the craft every day. The next day I went to the admin office and dropped out. That was a fun phone call home! Still, it was the best decision I’ve ever made, and my mother has since welcomed me back to the family.

JS: What are the hardest things for an outsider to understand about what you do?

LB: Whenever I talk to a ‘non-actor’ about what I do, they usually have two initial questions they want answered. The first one is usually, “So, how much do you get paid?” To which I reply, “Oh, I won’t accept less than $500,000 per job.” as I adjust my Dior sunglasses and sip my latte…

The second is, “Isn’t it competitive? How do you deal with that much rejection?” People can’t seem to understand why someone would voluntarily choose a career in which they’re subjected to so much dismissal and unpredictability.

What I usually say in response, is that you eventually learn the tricks of the trade so as not to let rejection affect you too deeply. You prepare, you go in and do the audition, you leave the room, and you leave it all behind you. As actors we also learn to not take any rejection too personally. It could be that the director thinks you look too much like her dentist (who gave her a bad root canal in ’09) and has nothing to do with your performance or personality whatsoever. Not to mention that the decision has to be OK’d by numerous people before anyone is hired. The director could want you, but the producer wants to hire his/her friend, the writer could think you’re perfect, but the director decides to cut the part completely… with all this in mind, you have to just go in and do your best – and then put it out of mind.

A good example of this is the day I booked my first principal role in a feature film (“Pay the Ghost”) with Nicolas Cage… I had done the audition at 9am that morning, left, and forgot about it. I started work at 4pm that evening, and around 6pm I got a call from my agent. I snuck into the washroom to take it, thinking that maybe I had an audition for the next day. When I answered she said, “Where are you right now?” I told her I was at work, and she said, “Well you might want to ask your boss if you can step outside and call your mom ‘cause you booked the movie.” I remember thinking ‘What movie?’ and being so confused and stunned for a second until I realized what she was talking about, “FROM THIS MORNING!?” I think is what I said/yelled. I had done such a good job of burying it to the back of my mind that I had completely forgotten about it. It was definitely a nice realization though!

The other factor worthy of mentioning is that, when you’re deeply consumed and passionate about something, it doesn’t matter how competitive or unreliable of a career it may be – you must do it!

JS: How and why did you begin to do creative work in the first place?

LB: I’ve been doing ‘creative work’ since I can remember, but I think this is mainly due to my upbringing. My father (aka Fahj Mahal, aka Mark Beatty) is a skilled musician and a talented writer/artist. Growing up, he was in a band that was always playing shows in and out of town, touring around… I remember thinking he was a rockstar, or maybe more like a superhero. By day he was ‘Dad’ and wore ‘Dad clothes’, but by night he wore leather vests and had a bolo tie of a horseshoe encrusted with purple diamonds (I thought to be valued at roughly $100,000…) I hardly ever got to see him like this as I’d usually be in bed by the time he left – but I’d find evidence of his superhero rockstar life in the form of his leather vest/jacket hanging up in the garage the following day (to air out the cigarette smoke, he later told me.)

He had his music room in our basement and at any time of day you could find him down there writing or recording. He had several guitars, a keyboard (that I became obsessed with) and at one point we had a drum kit down there for a bit. That room was magical to me. I would see him constantly creating and I wanted to create too. I would sneak into the basement when he was at work and play with his keyboard, making up my own songs. Hitting keys until something sounded right.

On top of that my parents were almost always recording us in the early days. From the mundane to the bigger family occasions/gatherings. I was immediately fascinated with the idea that you could capture or “trap” moments from your life and look at them again. I knew where my parents kept the camcorder, so I would get it out and ask/force my (poor) brother to help me record some short videos. We made countless infomercial parodies, as well as some little skits in which we’d play different characters (I think my very first role was an elderly woman who collected ant farms… We were WAY ahead of our time.)

All this said, I think I started creating because I was surrounded by it – immersed in it whether I wanted to be or not. I don’t think I even understood what ‘creativity’ was at the time, but I knew that whatever this ‘thing’ was, it was exciting and magical – and I knew I had to be a part of it. It was in my blood, and my inner voice was yelling “Go towards the magic!”

JS: What haven’t you attempted as yet that you would like to do and please tell us why?

LB: It’s not that I haven’t “attempted” this, but it’s one of my major life goals that hasn’t happened yet, and that I’m slowly working towards…

I want to be a show runner. By this I mean I want to have a part in the whole kit and caboodle. From writing, to producing, to acting, to directing… having my hands in everything. Acting and writing may be my main focus, but the entire collaborative process with all its moving parts – that truly fascinates me. (Has nothing to do with the fact that I’m OCD, and a perfectionist, and want the final say in everything, Pfft – No way!)

Joking aside, this is something I have always dreamed of. I’ve always pictured myself in front of, as well as behind the camera. I guess what has been holding me back a bit is that I feel extremely under qualified because I haven’t gone to school for anything other than acting. That thought held me back for years. But it’s only recently that I’m realizing film school is just one of the avenues you can take. There are benefits, there are downsides. I want to just go out there and learn by doing! So, I’ve been planting some seeds, making moves, and getting involved with as many projects as I can. I co-wrote/acted in a short comedy 2 years ago entitled “Are You Gonna Eat That?”, I did wardrobe and continuity on a friend’s short in Montreal last year, last month I co-wrote, acted in and directed a short (“Boiling Point”) with some fellow actors, and just a few weeks ago I was script-supervisor for another friends short (“Closed Caption”), premiering in the “Feminist Fuck It Fest” at Storefront on April 20th. On top of this I’ve been co-writing/creating a comedic television series for the past 2 years that we recently pitched to CBC and Bell Media. The gears are in motion, and I can’t wait to see what happens down the line.

JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?

LB: The things that mean the most to me are those which I have my hands in the most and have a part in bringing to life. That being said, my most meaningful achievements thus far would be the aforementioned short film I co-wrote “Are You Gonna Eat That?”, as well as the television series I’ve been co-writing – “Strong & Wrong”. Both centre around women who are trying to figure it out, and both came from a very real, very sincere place.

On the music side of things, I released a song last year called “Gaslight” which means a great deal to me. It took almost a year to write and came from a really raw place. It reminds me how strong I am – not only that, but I genuinely love the song and am very proud of it.

JS: What advice would you give a young person who would like to do what you do?

LB: I’d say start taking classes NOW. Start getting involved in the community, meeting like-minded friends, and find your ‘people’ NOW! Start writing/creating content and getting it out there NOW – and never stop!

On the topic of ‘classes’ though, I have to say that college was definitely useful in the way of meeting people who have the same passions/enthusiasm as me and want to collaborate – but overall I’d say use your discretion when it comes to full-time schooling. Sometimes being so heavily immersed in a craft like that can feel like cutting open a bird’s neck to see how it sings. Maybe getting an agent and taking classes on the side while you start to audition is the better route for you. You’ll know what feels right and what makes the most sense for your life/situation!

JS: Of what value are critics?

LB: Critics are insanely valuable to me. I’ve been learning recently to view criticism as something immeasurably useful and positive (when it comes from a place of caring.) If no one ever criticized me, I’d never grow – and I want to always, ALWAYS be growing. Criticism has such a negative connotation to it and I think it’s time we changed that. Other’s views, thoughts and feelings are valid and deserve to be heard. Also, if I’m over here trying to preach equality, and the importance/validity of different perspectives, I sure as hell can’t be against criticism. So, bring on the critique!

JS: What do you ask of your audience?

LB: I ask of my audience the same that I ask of myself as an audience member. To be open, willing to listen, respectful, open-minded, and please – tell me what you think! Have a question? I love questions. Have comments? I love comments. Also, if you like what you see/hear – please for the love of all things holy, SHARE!

JS: What specifically would you change about what goes on in the world and the arts?

LB: I want to break up the “Boys Club”, on every level. On a political and social level, but also on a creative level. The world needs to see more women in roles of power and decision-making. Whether that be presidents and world leaders, or filmmakers, writers, producers and directors (and equally paid while we’re at it). We are natural born lovers and leaders, and the world needs us.

JS: If you could relive one experience from your creative life, what would it be and why would you do so?

LB: It would have to be the day we shot “Are You Gonna Eat That?”. It was such a dream seeing our story come to life, and to have the joy of working alongside my co-writers and insanely talented friends who all came together to help us. I’m pretty sure we spent a full 12hrs just laughing and at the same time creating something special. I’d like to relive that day over and over please!

JS: Tell us what it feels like to be a figure who is presented somehow in the media. What effect does this presence have on you?

LB: It’s definitely an interesting feeling – especially when a stranger comes into the cafe you work at and says they loved your Justin Bieber parody from 4 years ago on YouTube (true story), and you want to crawl into a corner and die of embarrassment. But it’s a GREAT feeling when someone recognizes you for something you’re truly proud of.

When it comes to the media, what I think about most is the permanence of the internet. Anything I put out there is potentially out there for good. So as someone who has an agent and a certain professional image to uphold, I’ve become quite conscious about what I’m putting out there. Whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or even a song I’m releasing publicly. I like to make sure I can stand behind anything and everything I say or do. A lot of thought goes into things when you’re reminded that literally anyone could stumble across it – maybe even someone who has the power to make or break your career.

That being said, I never want to shy away from being myself – and that is a weird, goofy, passionate, loving, creative, queer woman. That will never change.

JS: Name two places you would like to visit, one you haven’t been to and one to experience again and briefly tell us why

LB: Ireland: I have a lot of family roots/history in Ireland but I’ve never been! I know I’d instantly feel at home, and the history there is so fascinating to me. Would love to go one day soon!

France: I did an exchange to Rouen, Normandy in Grade 11. It was my first time travelling on my own, and my first time being that far away from my family. I was there for 3 months (which felt like an eternity then), but I had the absolute time of my life. I would LOVE to go back and experience it as an adult. Walk the cobblestone streets of Rue De La Gros Horloge (while smoking Camel cigarettes), and eat Pain Au Chocolat on the steps of the Cathedral Notre-Dame.

JS: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on, are preparing, or have recently completed. Why do they matter to you and why should they matter to us?

LB: I touched on these above, but the project I’m currently dedicating most of my time to is the comedic series I’ve been co-writing for the past 2 years entitled “Strong & Wrong”. We are currently in the pitching phase and preparing to shoot the ‘Pitch Pilot’ which is a 10-minute teaser/compilation of some of the best moments from the show.

The project I most recently completed is, “Are You Gonna Eat That?”. A comedic short about four women who ruin their dining experience with their insane dietary restrictions. It was co-written by myself and two of the same writers from ‘Strong & Wrong’.

These projects matter to me because they both come from a very real place – my own life. ‘AYGET’ came from a compilation of our experiences as actors who take waitressing jobs and deal with insane customers while trying to make ends meet. ’S&W’ is also very close to my heart because it’s a commentary on the lives of the approaching-30-woman trying to make it in Toronto. We all play heightened versions of ourselves, while trying to balance love, careers, and social lives.

I think they should matter to you because they are relevant and written from a perspective that you can probably relate to (or at least appreciate). They’re both entertaining, funny, and told from the female lens – which we all know needs more exposure! Even so, we believe that anyone, any gender, with any background can relate to our work and see themselves in it.

JS: Let’s talk about the state of the arts in today’s society, including the forms in which you work. What specifically gives you hope and what specifically do you find depressing?

LB: What I find depressing is the attitude towards the Film & TV industry in Canada in general. I notice that a lot of Canadian talents (whether that’s actors/writers/filmmakers etc.) – including myself – feel you can only go so far here before you hit a wall. That’s why we see so many industry folks leaving for LA or NYC, which is totally understandable given the situation, but just further perpetuates the issue in the first place. I think it’s a stigma that we have about ourselves that we’re not good enough, and I wish we didn’t have it! We have so much talent here. I can’t wait for the day when Toronto is seen and recognized around the world as a powerhouse and hub of Film & TV – that I know it has the potential to be – and that people don’t feel the need to leave here to be successful.

What gives me hope, is the recent uprising of women fighting for equality, to be heard, and to be taken seriously. It’s been amazing to see what’s come out of the #MeToo movement, and how it’s brought us together. It makes me feel stronger than ever before, like I have an army of support behind me cheering me on.

JS: Finally, what do you yourself find to be the most intriguing and/or surprising thing about you?

LB: I think that would have to be my ‘spirituality’. I’m constantly surprising myself with just how much I am actually infatuated with the paranormal and spiritual side of life. I’m obsessed with mediums (and any/all shows about mediums), the paranormal (and any/all shows about the paranormal), and the idea of energy, reincarnation, different dimensions/realms and past-lives. I fully believe in it all, I’ve seen ghosts/spirits, I’ve had visitations from the dead, and I feel like in another life I would be a medium or paranormal investigator!

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STEPHEN FEARING: CANADIAN FOLK SINGER-SONGWRITER, FOUNDING MEMBER OF BLACKIE AND THE RODEO KINGS, MEMBER OF THE DUO FEARING & WHITE, & ON CROSS-CANADA TOUR IN APRIL, TALKS REALITY: “THERE IS NO ‘FAIR’ IN ROCK ‘N ROLL AND TO SURVIVE ONE MUST HAVE A THICK SKIN AND A STUBBORN, UNRELENTING COMPULSION TO PLAY. YOU WILL BE TESTED IN EVERY WAY. A DESIRE FOR ‘FAME AND FORTUNE’ IS WHY FOOLS PURSUE THE ARTS.” … A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on March 28, 2018 by strecker

JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, or have done, in the arts, what would you say?

STEPHEN FEARING: I am a songwriter, singer, guitarist, recording artist and producer. I’ve had the great honour to make my living at this for over 30 years and count myself extremely lucky to be able to write that last sentence. I also adhere to the saying that luck is 90% hard work and 10% luck.

JS: What important beliefs do you express in or through your work?

SF: It’s difficult to put into words and perhaps a bit of a cliché, but I believe that the journey is an end in itself, that the “work” is by far the most important thing for an artist, far and above any critical or financial success that may come from the work. I believe that people are inherently good and worth the effort it often takes to understand each other and stay connected. Love is not “all you need”, but without love, we are nothing, love is life, life is the journey.

JS: Name two people, living or dead, whom you admire a great deal and tell us why for each one.

SF: My Mother, who struggled through a great deal of turmoil (as many women of her age/era have) and decided, after many attempts to be a “good wife” in the 50’s mode, to follow her gut and strike out on her own as a successful entrepreneur. Women have always inspired me. She is as tough as nails.
Nelson Mandela, another person who overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles to change the world without losing his own sense of dignity and grace… without giving away or amputating his soul and his humanity.

JS: How have you changed since you began to do creative work?

SF: I am less arrogant and also surer of myself. I am less concerned about what other people think of me or my work and much more interested in connecting with my audience. I have greater empathy for others and am certainly more aware of the great privileges I have “inherited” as a white male and also the challenges facing the white male artist now and in the future.

JS: What are your biggest challenges as a creative person?

SF: Speaking of which… I think the Great White Male (!) has been on the receiving end of so much privilege, and for so long, that slowly, inexorably and inevitably the tide is shifting and in ways we could never have imagined – “the order is rapidly fading and the first one now will later be last for the times they are a changing”. Any artist, who has grown beyond the first flush of creating, who has been working and creating for years, is faced with the challenge of re-inventing themselves, with moving past a style or sound that has worked in their favour before, to avoid becoming stale or stagnant. At the same time, it is important to hold onto those elements of your work or process that are at your core… now add into this equation the fact that you are male and white and the unavoidable truth that it is high time for that genetic lottery ticket to no longer hold any advantage. This, I think, is my biggest challenge – how to be myself and remain current and relevant.

JS: Please describe at least one major turning point in your life.

SF: When I was a high-school student in Ireland in 1979, I had a history teacher who was that rarity in Irish education – a teacher interested in his student’s inner lives. Mr. Moxham discovered that I was passionately interested in singing / performing and invited me to record a “demo tape” that I could use when I headed across the pond to America (post-graduation) to get myself some “gigs” (I had never heard of demo tapes and had not even considered such a thing). Moxham set up a reel-to-reel in the school music room and proceeded to record me for a few hours one evening as I played every song I knew. Later when I went around to his place to pick up the cassettes he had transferred those recording onto, he sat me down and turned on the radio, tuning it to a local pirate station. This was the era of pirate radio, where small (sometimes mobile) amateur “stations” were springing up all over the place to challenge the State stranglehold of the airwaves by broadcasting music and other content that would never have been allowed on Irish radios before then. As I sat there listening, I heard myself singing one of the songs we’d recorded, there I was coming across the airwaves, coming through the speaker. It’s hard to imagine how profound that was in this age of high-tech, when people record themselves and photograph themselves by the hour, but it was the lightning-bolt moment which I will never forget and still get goose bumps thinking about. In hindsight I realise it was an act of incredible generosity on Donald Moxham’s part… that crucial moment when an adult takes you seriously as a fledgling artist and holds open a door.

JS: What are the hardest things for an outsider to understand about what you do?

SF: The fact that I spend the vast majority of my day doing everything but playing music. Amongst many other things; I am a skilled long-distance driver, a small business owner, a publicist, a creative designer, a digital photographer, a teacher, a producer, a shitty bookkeeper and the list goes on. As such, I am an artist and though much of the joy I get from my work comes when I am onstage singing and playing, the vast majority of my work happens away from the stage (and some of that is joyful as well…). Once again – the work is the reward and an end in itself. The fact that I can continue to perform, that I make enough of a living as a performer (and all the other subsidiary streams that flow from into that river) to continue working as a performer, marks me as successful and I never lose sight of that.

JS: How and why did you begin to do creative work in the first place?

SF: My family has been in this racket for generations. My maternal Grandfather owned a chain of movie theatres in Ireland, my maternal Grandmother played various instruments and sang as well as being a pit musician during the silent movie era. On my Father’s side, my Grandfather was a British Music Hall singer/performer. Music and performing are in my blood.

I started with piano lessons, but after my parents split up I grew bored with the lessons (and the instrument) and to my great regret, I quit and embraced the guitar (first guitar was a gut string “flamenco” model which hung on the wall of my step-father’s house). When my paternal-Grandfather died, he left me $250 (a small fortune for a teenager in the ‘70’s) I spent that on a glossy Japanese-made acoustic steel string and the die was cast.

JS: What haven’t you attempted as yet that you would like to do and please tell us why?

SF: I have never had the pleasure of working live with a symphony orchestra or a group larger than a six-piece band. I grew up with recordings featuring big bands, orchestras etc.…. classical, pop and jazz recordings with large amounts of musicians playing the arrangements. As a singer, I would love the challenge of working in that environment, as a writer I would love hearing my material arranged for multiple voices / textures.

JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?

SF: As an artist – the ongoing and precious connection I have with my audience.

As a man – my relationship with my wife and kid, my family and friends, all of whom keep me sane, alive and functioning.

JS: What advice would you give a young person who would like to do what you do?

SF: The best piece of advice I got (from Willie P. Bennett) was to take the music seriously but to NOT take myself too seriously. I took this to mean that I had to put my ego aside both for my own health and the health of my music. There is no “fair” in rock ‘n roll and to survive one must have a thick skin and a stubborn, unrelenting compulsion to play. If you are not “driven” to do this, it’s best that you find another way to make a living because you will be tested in every way. A desire for “fame and fortune” is why fools pursue the arts.

JS: Of what value are critics?

SF: It depends. I believe that being an authentic critic whose opinion “matters” takes work and a commitment to the music that is as great as the commitment to being a musician. I find that a lot of critics don’t actually like musicians (perhaps because they are frustrated musician’s themselves) and use their voice to build themselves up at the expense of others. For my money, a critic is someone who knows enough about what has gone before to truly discover and describe the value or spark in a creative work, even if they don’t necessarily “like” it.

JS: What do you ask of your audience?

SF: That they open their hearts and minds. That they be willing to suspend belief and come with me on a little road trip. That they turn off their cell phones….

JS: What specifically would you change about what goes on in the world and the arts?

SF: Oh boy…. I love to sing and play and have been blessed to make my living doing just that (and all the other tasks associated with it – see above). There is a direct connection between the commitment it takes to actually make a living at this (rather than pursue it as a part-time hobby) and the depth of work one can achieve. For artists, I think it has to be your life’s work in order for you to get past the superficial. Coincidentally, I think you have to fully commit if you are to have any chance of making a living from this for your life (even though there are no guarantees). Sometimes I wish this were not the case as the pressure of “making a living” often threatens to suffocate the creative spark altogether and one has to constantly guard against chasing after the “fools gold” of commercial success. I wonder if we wouldn’t all be better off with a living wage… I also wonder if I would dig as deep and stick with it long after the rest of the world has gone to bed if my mortgage wasn’t due the following morning…

JS: If you could relive one experience from your creative life, what would it be and why would you do so?

SF: When Blackie and The Rodeo Kings first went into Grant Avenue Studio to record “High or Hurtin’ – The Songs of Willie P. Bennett” I barely remember those sessions, I was so completely overwhelmed by what we were doing and struggling creatively to keep my nose above water. I would love to go back and savour that moment and those sessions when (without any understanding at the time) we opened a door to something that would feed us physically, emotionally and spiritually for decades to come… and counting!

JS: Tell us what it feels like to be a figure who is presented somehow in the media. What effect does this presence have on you?

SF: The older I get, the more I understand the media and am comfortable with it, even as it morphs and changes, dies off and reinvents itself. There have been many times when I wished for more exposure and greater coverage, and as I continue to grow and create it does indeed get harder to get that exposure (even with all the new tools of social media) since “new” and “young” are still the magic keys to the kingdom. Even so, there is a fine line between using the media to your advantage as an artist and being “hit-and-run-over” by your own success and your own image. Thankfully (for better or worse) I have never experienced that kind of heavy-rotation and I am mostly comfortable with the experiences I have had. Occasionally I wish for more privacy, but generally I can disappear without too much difficulty.

JS: Name two places you would like to visit, one you haven’t been to and one to experience again and briefly tell us why

SF: Asia: South Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam… I travel so much but 99% of the time in very familiar territory with a guitar in my hands. I would love to travel to these places with or without my guitar, to truly be a minority and delve deeper into cultures that I have tasted but only scratched the surface of. I would love to perform where I am unknown and free of cultural baggage, to be liked or disliked for what I create in the moment.

Ireland 1970s – a time of great cultural change when some social experiments (The Republic of Ireland for one) were starting to come to maturity and (d)evolve. Dublin was a dirty, tough town, surrounded by the aching beauty of the countryside and I recall milk delivered by horse-drawn carts and horse shit in the streets. The American flag was a tarnished symbol of rebellious youth culture, The Troubles” were mostly up north and everything seemed possible and impossible all at once. Punk rock was raising its snotty nose and I was scared shitless about what I was going to do next.

JS: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on, are preparing, or have recently completed. Why do they matter to you and why should they matter to us?

SF: In a few months I am planning to release The Secret of Climbing – an album of songs (vinyl only) in partnership with Rega Research (a venerable old British company who arguably make the greatest turntables in the world). The concept for this recording was to eliminate as much of the processing/signal path between the performance and the listener as possible and to remain completely in the analog realm. Sounds simple? Yes and no. No mixing board, no EQs or compressors, no studio smoke ‘n mirrors, no cutting and pasting and no overdubs – just my voice and guitar, 8 songs, 2 microphones going direct to tape and then pressed directly to vinyl. As with any process there are elements of the studio arsenal that have evolved to deal with specific issues and like any solution, they come with their own problems. So, we decided to go back in time and try to home in on the performance and present that as nakedly (purely) as possible.

For me the opportunity to let go of all the elements of production and concentrate solely on the performance was a challenge I found irresistible. I was in the middle of a European tour when I went into a home studio (outside London) and recorded 11 songs (only 8 can fit on two sides of a 12” disc) over two days with no overdubs or editing. Being in a live-music touring mindset and completely freed of studio safety nets, made for an interesting headspace, but I was determined not to get bogged down in overly critical listening and just go for the performance. The nature of this recording method meant that we were constrained dynamically by the lack of technology, so this is an album of ballads – a gorgeously intimate and somewhat stark song cycle.

I think this album’s relevance to anybody other than the hard-core Stephen Fearing fan (a small but dedicated group of oddballs) lies in the vinyl grooves of the medium itself – hello Marshall McLuhan. One of the fascinating statistics of Rega Research is that even at the height of the CD boom – when Vinyl looked to be months away from total obsolescence – Rega was selling thousands of turntables worldwide month after month. Roy Gandy – my co-producer and visionary of Rega Research -explained to me that those who were devoted to the quality of vinyl as a medium never abandoned it even as they also embraced digital technology. Since Rega was always dealing to a niche HiFi demographic, the mass market currents didn’t affect them like other companies and they stayed healthy and viable.
Now that Vinyl has made such a dramatic comeback and is very much the flavour of the month, there are a lot of myths being pedalled to consumers and frankly a lot of crap being poorly pressed and sold on 180gram vinyl for reasonably big bucks (Ikea is purportedly introducing a turntable this year!). Our little project is beguilingly simple with a total focus on quality in performance, recording, cutting and pressing such that it is worthy of the Rega name.

JS: Let’s talk about the state of the arts in today’s society, including the forms in which you work. What specifically gives you hope and what specifically do you find depressing?

SF: Having just touched on the resurgence of vinyl in my last paragraph it’s timely to look at the digital wave of file-sharing that utterly gutted the recording industry and is now changing every other aspect of the arts world. As most of your readers are aware, file sharing (translating music into digital files and then sharing that over the internet for free) destroyed the retail market for music such that all the old “record” stores (A&B Sound, Tower Records etc. etc.) are gone the way of the dinosaur. Since I never really made my living within the mainstream of Radio and Retail (i.e. I never sold significant amounts of product – no gold records on my wall) this hasn’t affected me in the way it has other artists. However, there was an infrastructure in place and that is gone forever, replaced by YouTube (people watch music now rather than listen to it) and other social media outlets. Andy Warhol’s idea of everybody getting 15 minutes of fame has been whittled down to a fraction of that (15 seconds of fame?). Fortunes are created in a flurry of clicks and careers are born and die in a matter of months. People’s attention spans are ever more fleeting and an entire generation has grown up listening to hideously compressed files on earbuds with little or no sense of the creators and players or indeed the music itself (music is a lot more than the notes being played). It is extremely depressing to understand that for many people, art (music being the common denominator for the vast majority of people) is not something you spend money on and many people who think nothing of spending good money on their “device”, balk at the idea of paying for the music they listen to on that device, which leaves the creators of those recordings struggling to finance their work never mind make a living from it.

Live music is the only way to pay the bills now but since I have always made my living that way, it’s not really a big change for me except that the competition for paying gigs has risen dramatically and even in the dark corner of the business where folk musicians dwell, it’s getting very crowded. On the positive side – the same technology that has driven this industry into the weeds has created so much possibility for maverick creators and the old record companies who were the gatekeepers and “filters” have lost their power and their control, such that it is possible for work to be embraced strictly on it’s merits IF it can rise above the noise and the static to be heard.

JS: Finally, what do you yourself find to be the most intriguing and/or surprising thing about you?

JS: I’m still hungry.

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CHARLES DANIELS: MUCH-RECORDED TENOR – APPEARING WITH TAFELMUSIK APRIL 5-8 & 10 – AND A MAJOR SPIRIT OF CONTEMPORARY BAROQUE MUSIC PERFORMANCE EXPLAINS: “MY WORK IS INTENSELY COLLABORATIVE, AND THE SUM OF THE WHOLE SHOULD BE GREATER THAN THE SUM OF THE INDIVIDUAL TALENTS (AND EGOS)” … A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on March 28, 2018 by strecker

Photo by Annelies van der Vegt

Tickets are still available for the April 10, 8:00 PM performance of Bach’s Mass in B Minor at George Weston Recital Hall, Toronto Centre for the Arts from http://www.tafelmusik.org/concert-calendar

JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, or have done, in the arts, what would you say?

CHARLES DANIELS: Tenor, musician, composer, narrator in song. Active since the 80s, best known in Baroque music and fortunate to have worked with many distinguished groups in that field. Lots of recordings, especially Bach and Purcell, but I believe live music is the best way to do and hear music.

JS: What important beliefs do you express in or through your work?

CD: My work is more to do with expressing what the music is there to do than about my
personal beliefs. It’s also intensely collaborative, and sum of the whole should be greater
than the sum of the individual talents (and egos) …If you sing something you must put
yourself in the shoes of the character, or narrator of the poem or story, but while also
thinking very carefully about the whole work. Music has the power to transport people‘s
thoughts and the performing musician’s job is to do that the most effectively: which means
you have to try to weave a sort of magic

JS: Name two people, living or dead, whom you admire a great deal and tell us why for each one.

CD: Leonardo da Vinci – for his endless and unflinching efforts to understand everything, as well as his genius in the visual arts. He too was a musician – probably knew Josquin des
Pres when they were both in Milan. As it happens we have a snatch of a tune of his, from
one of his riddles. My suspicion is that one can quite easily do all manner of canonic
things with it, but I have yet to prove that.

J.S Bach – I simply couldn’t do without his music. So much in it, so powerful, I always find
new things. No doubt he wasn’t an easy man to deal with, if you were say Rector of St
Thomas or had to do with the Leipzig Town Council…

JS: How have you changed since you began to do creative work?

CD: Some things change – you think in different ways when you have a family, for instance, as you have responsibilities to others. But some of the big kid is still there, or whatever the bit of us is that won’t accept uniformity and routine. My world view is less rosy than it was. I wish it were otherwise.

JS: What are your biggest challenges as a creative person?

CD: Every time you perform it has to be fresh. With well-known works that means constantly reinventing how you think of them, as if from scratch.

You also having to strive always to be getting better, to bring something more interesting
than the previous time. That also means constantly challenging oneself technically. Never
just to turn up and do one’s thing.

To stay full of ideas. But in a sense that should be, if not easy, at least natural. And it’s
much less easy to get stuck in a rut as a musician than for someone in a job which always
asks the same thing of them.

JS: Please describe at least one major turning point in your life.

CD: My voice breaking! It may sound trivial and happens to almost every boy – I sang with a very distinguished choir but before it broke, had a surprisingly poor voice: I can only
imagine my reading music well was of some use to the choir, as long as other choristers
camouflaged the sound. But the fact that that my broken voice seemed at least useful as a
tenor, even after a few months, made a good psychological difference to me.

Being taken on as a post-grad student by Edward Brooks at the Royal College of Music
made it possible to do what I’ve done ever since. Doubtless there are things I do which
others should not reproduce, but essentially, I rely on the framework he taught me.
Edward had long experience teaching actors to use their voice with projection but without
strain, even before his career at the RCM began. His method, which can help anyone to use
their voice to its best natural extent (rather than, say, to try to make a sound of some
particular type or like someone) has proved incredibly useful for me for decades

Having children! I’m lucky to have two daughters: they’ve always had very distinct and
strong characters. They’re living disproof of babies having characters that can be moulded
at one’s will: that was so for both of them, from their first moments in the world. You have
to think differently when you’re considering the next generation – you think long term and
wonder how what you decide will affect them as adults.

Apart from anything else they make me laugh and stop me becoming fossilized in my ways.

JS: What are the hardest things for an outsider to understand about what you do?

CD: That it’s possible to make a living as a musician – or even needful. I wonder if some think that creative types can live off nothing but air and ideas. Almost the whole business is mysterious to many – from thinking up a project to delivering it to an audience. Groups
like Tafelmusik which have a great deal of outreach, from education to sponsorship, have
done much to demystify things, though.

JS: How and why did you begin to do creative work in the first place?

CD: I always did a lot of music from childhood on, so grew up with it – performing and writing music too – but didn’t think about making a living from it until well into my university time. There wasn’t the eureka moment, I have to do this and nothing else, but more that I’d being doing an enormous amount of music for years and a certain point it didn’t seem crazy, with further study, to make a living out of it.

JS: What haven’t you attempted as yet that you would like to do and please tell us why?

CD: I’ve long had ideas about how some music should go, which are different enough from
what I hear elsewhere, particularly vocally, that I’d like to assemble a group and have a
go at making that happen. But I’d need more disposable time to do it – and at least a small
budget.

JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?

CD: A good question, but how can one decide that for oneself? History (assuming we will have one) has to be the judge. Then there’s the question of as-artist versus as-entire-human being. But things in the sphere of music which have given me great satisfaction include recording the Evangelist parts of both Bach Passions; a lot of the wonderful but
underexposed music of the 17th century; doing my bit to put music back together which
was incomplete (a well-known Purcell Ode, and the Gesualdo Sacrae Cantiones à6 to name
two – for the latter there are other versions out there too. But having sung so much
Renaissance and early Baroque music, besides Gesualdo himself, has to help with realizing
the right sound world – and I’ve had really helpful input from my colleagues in the
Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam as well)

JS: What advice would you give a young person who would like to do what you do?

CD: First, go for it – then: be yourself as a creative person, try to resist people putting you into too small a box as a performer and always strive to get better (this also applies to someone of 60..). Use the new tools – social media, music streaming services – to help yourself – that’s a case of do as I say not as I do. You should have great fun but don’t expect to make a huge amount of money – if you have another way of earning a living you may need to run both in parallel while you’re getting known. Recordings are a fine calling card and monument of what you do, but what you earn will be from live performance, so put your highest voltage input into that. Bear in mind that if you have a significant other, being away from home a lot puts a strain on your relationship – you will both have to be flexible.

JS: Of what value are critics?

CD: For the performer: honest criticism holds the mirror of another intelligent human being to what we do. We don’t always like what’s in it, of course. When not, best to see if there are things in the negative responses that can be used as tools for self-betterment. If criticism is favourable, it’s nice to receive – but one should always be one’s own fiercest critic.

For the audience or wider public – a good critic knows his/her subject and will inform and
enlighten as well as entertain.

JS: What do you ask of your audience?

CD: To try to lay to one side the things which distract them mentally, so be open to the music happening in front of them.

JS: What specifically would you change about what goes on in the world and the arts?

CD: The world – we’ll have to change the way we organize almost everything, simply to
survive as a species (though the planet might be content if we failed to). Education which
teaches people to think clearly and critically in intellectual and emotional ways might
help. Learning facts has its place, but if we have sympathetic faculties for discerning truth
from falsehood and creative ones for finding solutions to our many problems, it may serve
us better.

The arts – that they be a normal part of children’s growing up. Since not everyone is rich,
that means a good slice of arts need to be presented for little or no money to those that
can’t afford to pay, but who still deserve their share of culture. This does already happen
of course, but needs to be spread more fairly.

The tendency for schools and colleges all over the world to measure their results output
against each other has narrowed curricula, and institutions may concentrate too much on
tests and exam results at the expense of broader education.

JS: If you could relive one experience from your creative life, what would it be and why would you do so?

CD: I’ve heard wonderful things often – but one that would be lovely to revisit with further
hindsight was doing Messiah with Nikolaus Harnoncourt. It’s a piece which is so well
known and yet he had so many new insights, though I knew the music well already. What
I’d try to think even more about a second time round is, how to use his sort of fresh
thinking not just on Messiah but how to increase my creative range in as many contexts as
I could.

JS: Tell us what it feels like to be a figure who is presented somehow in the media. What effect does this presence have on you?

CD: It’s surprisingly hard to quantify – because I’m usually busy doing stuff, be it work, or if at home, family life – and since there are more things needing doing, than time to do them, I don’t spend much time thinking about what people think about me. But to have any sort of decent reputation has to help, because people in the arts world are so interconnected. It also means you owe people the best job you can possibly do, on all occasions

JS: Name two places you would like to visit, one you haven’t been to and one to experience again and briefly tell us why

CD: Life being busy, I tend to like to spend leisure time in peaceful places. There are many and one doesn’t have to go so far: one I’ve been to and would love to revisit is the part of
North West Scotland near Kinloch Hourn – and if in that part of the world would be
fascinated to see St Kilda, a little island thirty miles beyond the Hebrides. People lived
there for thousands of years until the late 1920’s – there are still the remains of some
buildings which volunteers tend every summer to keep them from falling down. But
mostly it’s rock, sea, grass, sky, wheeling birds.

JS: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on, are preparing, or have recently completed. Why do they matter to you and why should they matter to us?

CD: I’m lucky to have a good deal going on in Canada at the moment: to mention some of it, Bach Mass in B Minor with Tafelmusik – which is important because not only is it
wonderful music but Bach wrote it as a summation of his life’s work. A fantastic team
assembled under Ivars’ direction. And the following month I’m delighted to be doing
Monteverdi’s Orfeo with David Fallis. There are arguments about how near to being the
first opera ‘Orfeo’ was, but it’s a masterpiece and a wonderful challenge to sing!

I’ve a new programme for Early Music Vancouver which takes its cue from some of the
stories in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. There’s music by Handel, Purcell and Monteverdi
included, but even their pieces, rather off the beaten track. Great to have the chance to
show some of the unsung glories of that era.

Susie Napper and I have hatched a new programme with Les Voix Humaines for the
Montreal Baroque Festival in June.

Something quite different – I’ve written a song cycle, at the moment scored for voice and
piano, but with a view to remaking it for a larger chamber ensemble. Poetry by Ivor
Gurney, musician and poet, survivor of the First World War. Gurney was a remarkably
creative person and bipolar at a time when sympathy and money were scarce to deal with
such things and therapies ineffective. His poems span his life from before the Great War to
his later years committed to a mental hospital

JS: Let’s talk about the state of the arts in today’s society, including the forms in which you work. What specifically gives you hope and what specifically do you find depressing?

CD: Some of my worries have been touched on in my remarks on education. I don’t expect that the financial side of artistic activities will ever be easy, except for the lucky handful who realize commercial superstardom. Though the picture is patchy, my feeling is that live
music and other performing arts are creatively in fine shape, even if sometimes financially
not. It would be good for there to be more satisfactory ways for artists to make money
from their work on the internet. One clear hopeful thing is that there continue to be lots of
amazingly talented young people coming into the business, so I’ve no fear that there’s a
general withering of the arts going on.

JS: Finally, what do you yourself find to be the most intriguing and/or surprising thing about you?

CD: I don’t feel as if my creative instincts have waned with age. That’s perhaps not so
surprising as there are tons of interesting ideas pouring out of mature artists. But the urge
to perform hasn’t declined either. Finding something intriguing is a bit harder – if there is,
perhaps it’s for others to discern?

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CECILIA LIVINGSTON: COMPOSER WHO SPECIALIZES IN “MUSIC FOR VOICE” EXPLAINS, “ART IS A CONVERSATION ABOUT THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE. I DON’T THINK ART HAS A DIDACTIC PURPOSE, BUT RATHER THAT IT CAN ENGAGE THE MORAL IMAGINATION AND LET US FIGURE THINGS OUT FOR OURSELVES” … A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on March 26, 2018 by strecker


JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, or have done, in the arts, what would you say?

CECILIA LIVINGSTON: “Cecilia Livingston is a composer specializing in music for voice.” I’m becoming more and more focused on opera creation, and I’m composing my first full-length opera, Terror & Erebus terroranderebus.com. I also write about music, particularly contemporary opera.

JS: What important beliefs do you express in or through your work?

CL: That art is a conversation about the human experience. I don’t think art has a didactic purpose, but rather that it can engage the moral imagination and let us figure things out for ourselves. I remember hearing an interview with the painter Paula Rego, who spoke beautifully about why and how we tell stories: to make sense of the world. I think we create art and turn to art to make sense of our world, to try to understand it and each other, our humanness.

JS: Name two people, living or dead, whom you admire a great deal and tell us why for each one.

CL: Jane Austen, for her remarkable shrewdness about other human beings, and her cocked-eyebrow satirical humour about them.

Steve Reich, because Music for 18 Musicians might be the most important musical work of the twentieth century. It astonishes me every time I hear it. Plus, he’s a brilliant raconteur.

JS: How have you changed since you began to do creative work?

CL: I’ve learned to trust myself more, to trust that I might see and understand things in the world in ways that other people find surprising and interesting, and that is useful to their lives.

JS: What are your biggest challenges as a creative person?

CL: I’m going to quote Robert Hughes here: “We have had a gutful of fast art and fast food. What we need more of is slow art, art that holds time as a vase holds water, art that grows out of modes of perception and making, whose skill and doggedness make you think and feel: art that isn’t merely sensational, that doesn’t get its message across in ten seconds, that isn’t falsely iconic, that hooks onto something deep-running in our natures.”

Time for creating this kind of art is very, very hard to protect: making that time requires a real doggedness of its own, a real stubbornness.

JS: Please describe at least one major turning point in your life.

CL: A concert at which my family first heard a particular piece I’d written. They have always been wonderfully supportive, but I felt like it was the first time they truly, absolutely, and completely understood why I do what I do. I felt in that moment entirely “seen”, and that they gave me their blessing. For me that was the turning point of my creative life.

JS: What are the hardest things for an outsider to understand about what you do?

CL: How very bizarre it is to turn back and forth between the kind of deep introversion that composition can demand, and the extroversion that networking, public appearances, and all the other “admin” of a compositional life demand. It’s a very, very strange sensation.

JS: How and why did you begin to do creative work in the first place?

CL: I’m not sure, to be honest. Apart from a wooden theme-and-variations exercise in high school, now best forgotten, I didn’t begin to compose until well into my undergrad. But I’ve always loved “putting on a show”, so it’s no surprise that I love opera and creating opera; I probably got the bug for that from my elementary school musical (we’d get out of classes for several weeks to rehearse, really!) and being a part of the Pia Bouman School of Ballet’s Nutcracker every year when I was young.

JS: What haven’t you attempted as yet that you would like to do and please tell us why?

CL: I’d like to do more work with film; I did my first project along those lines for Nuit Blanche 2017, and it was fascinating. Definitely an area of music creation that I want to explore more. Also, I’ve never been in a band.

JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?

CL: Winning the 2018 Toronto Emerging Composer Award. I’m incredibly humbled by this, and incredibly proud of it too. It’s a recognition not only of the person but of the work, past and future: it is such a vote of confidence in my opera, Terror & Erebus, and such a beautiful gesture from my colleagues in this city where I grew up.

JS: What advice would you give a young person who would like to do what you do?

CL: That the most important qualities for any artist are curiosity and tenacity: they both keep you going. Being an artist can be a really difficult life – very uncertain, very lonely, very unconventional – and unless it is a calling you absolutely cannot ignore, it might be better to do something else.

JS: Of what value are critics?

CL: Good critics illuminate. Take Alex Ross, who I think is a superb critic. He writes about music with tremendous insight, revealing connections and details, strengths and weaknesses, and he also is able to suggest musical experience in language – the latter is usually a poet’s job. His kind of criticism helps us navigate old and new work, and to begin to decide what is valuable and what is not.

JS: What do you ask of your audience?

CL: to be open to aesthetic experience, and not just sit there waiting to go home. I get frustrated when people only want to feel safe – when feeling safe means “not being moved”. I value the social ritual of arts event attendance, sure, but as a creator I want an audience that is going to participate in the conversation the art allows: that can be unsettling, comforting… it’s an unknown each time, yes; it’s a risk each time, yes.

JS: What specifically would you change about what goes on in the world and the arts?

CL: More money for the arts: because good art takes time and focus and protecting the time and focus to create great art costs money. And I’d fund music education in public schools. I’m frustrated that we know how beneficial it is to education and learning, and to shaping a thoughtful, engaged citizenry, and yet it’s always the easy budget cut. Ugh.

JS: If you could relive one experience from your creative life, what would it be and why would you do so?

CL: The three weeks I spent as a fellow at Bang On a Can’s summer festival, basically living in the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art: I’ll never forget hearing Mark Stewart play Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint one afternoon in a sun-soaked Sol LeWitt gallery, with Reich himself sitting on a folding chair a few feet in front of me.

JS: Tell us what it feels like to be a figure who is presented somehow in the media. What effect does this presence have on you?

CL: So far, it’s been a positive experience, and very encouraging. I’m happy that this has brought new collaborations and new friends, and that it has brought my music to new audiences. Opening my inbox to find a message from someone who has come across my work and learning what it means to them… that can keep me going when I need it most.

JS: Name two places you would like to visit, one you haven’t been to and one to experience again and briefly tell us why.

CL: I really want to go to Australia. I’m enchanted by its landscapes. Probably the Canadian in me, liking big spaces. I also really want to go back to Saskatchewan, basically for the same reasons.

JS: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on, are preparing, or have recently completed. Why do they matter to you and why should they matter to us?

CL: I’m working on my first full-length opera, Terror & Erebus. It’s a dream project, and it brings together some of my favourite people: TorQ Percussion Quartet and Opera 5. Every meeting is such a pleasure with these folks, and it’s a wonderful balance to the isolation that composing the score is demanding of me. The opera explores the last days of the Franklin Expedition to the Arctic: it’s a powerful story and a really important part of Canada’s history. (More at terroranderebus.com)

JS: Finally, what do you yourself find to be the most intriguing and/or surprising thing about you?

CL: I love airports.

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JOSEPHINE VAN LIER: BAROQUE SPECIALIST, NEXT WITH SCARAMELLA ON APRIL 7 IN TORONTO, COMMENTS: “TOO OFTEN DO I SEE A KIND OF “PROTECTIONISM” IN ARTS ORGANIZATIONS AND IN MUSICIANS. I FEEL STRONGLY THAT WE ALL SHOULD BE ONE BIG COMMUNITY SUPPORTING EACH OTHER, PROMOTING EACH OTHER, ENCOURAGING EACH OTHER. INSTEAD MANY ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS DON’T WANT TO ENGAGE WITH AND PROMOTE OTHERS, AND WE ALL LOSE!” … A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on March 24, 2018 by strecker

JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, or have done, in the arts, what would you say?

JOSEPHINE VAN LIER: Cellist, baroque cellist, viola da gambist, founder and artistic director of Early Music Alberta. I am particularly passionate about the historically informed performance practice of early music and, aside to performing with my peers in that field, try to encourage “modern” instrumentalists, both professional and amateurs, to become involved in, and passionate about, this and bring it to our audiences.

JS: What important beliefs do you express in or through your work?

JVL: I find it of critical importance to always study the manuscripts of the music we play and learn as much as possible about the historical context: when and under what circumstances was the music written? For whom? And what did society look like at the time? Who were the musicians and what instruments, strings, reeds, and so on did they have at their disposal? I read treatises and study as much as possible the performance practice of the era of the music I am performing.

JS: Name two people, living or dead, whom you admire a great deal and tell us why for each one.

JVL: I have a patron. Which is something many musicians had in the 17th century, and they still exist today, though we don’t hear that much about it anymore. He has bought the absolutely terrific baroque cello I currently play on. An investment for him, a life and career changing opportunity for me. I really admire him for doing this at a time that many people are very selfish with their money. He is very humble about it and does it for the love of music, of the arts. He truly believes that a selfless act like this not only serves me as an artist and will allow me to grow and develop creatively, but also serves the community which gets to hear this great instrument played.

The second person is my husband Erik. I know that sounds tacky, but I really couldn’t be the creative person that I am without his support. He used to be a mechanical engineer and hated it. He quit his job 14 years ago and now makes very little money but is happy. He is my most amazing behind-the-scenes man. He has become a graphic designer, photographer, videographer and painter. Both for me personally as well as for Early Music Alberta he does all of the graphic design, the photography, videography, all of the running errands, and he stands behind me in every step I take. Had he kept his day job and made loads of money, I wouldn’t have been able to do what I do now. I am very grateful for that!

JS: How have you changed since you began to do creative work?

JVL: I don’t remember a time that I was not involved in creative work. I grew up with parents who were both professional classical guitarists. In my childhood home arts and creativity was a given. It has been there always, so it has shaped me and continues to shape me.

JS: What are your biggest challenges as a creative person?

JVL: I find that I am most creative when I have enough time to retreat into the mountains, or at the very least go for long walks in the outdoors. The biggest challenge is trying to fit that into a very busy schedule with long days that require me to wear so many different hats – from teacher and educator, to researcher, to performer, to artistic director and organizer of a concert season and festival – is difficult. I know I am not as creative when I don’t have that time in nature.

JS: Please describe at least one major turning point in your life.

JVL: Moving to Canada in 1995 from the Netherlands. My husband really wanted to move but I could not see myself move away from the arts and culture of Western Europe. We decided to give it a year’s trial period and…, well…, I am still here 23 years later and love it!

I live in Edmonton, where I really missed playing early music on period instrument, which was so common in the Netherlands. I performed a lot elsewhere, like in San Francisco and Europe, but missed having the opportunity playing historically informed early music in my own city. So, I founded Early Music Alberta in 2010, with the idea that I would invite specialists to perform alongside local musicians, thus training them. It worked (and continues to work!). We now have quite a thriving early music scene happening! I would say that was a major turning point!

Another big turning point was just a few months ago, so it really is almost too early to speak of a turning point, but I recently acquired a spectacular, 300-year-old English cello, that is much beyond what I have dared to dream about. I already feel my playing change, and it has only been a few months. I am so excited to continue on this journey with this cello and see where it will take me as a musician and artist!

JS: What are the hardest things for an outsider to understand about what you do?

JVL: People don’t understand the focus and enormous amount of hard work it takes to be able to perform at the level we do. For very little money. Many people tell me I am “lucky to have this gift”, but what they don’t realize is that it takes a tremendous amount of research and practice time to be successful. Not to mention the time and energy it takes to organize and promote concerts.

People also don’t realize the toll it takes on our body. At any sports event there will be a fully sponsored massage tent at the end of the day. I have yet to see that after a week of rehearsals and concerts!

JS: How and why did you begin to do creative work in the first place?

JVL: I don’t know whether I can answer that, since being creative person isn’t something that happened to me; it just always was. Since both of my parents were creative people (and so is my brother Bas van Lier who is a very creative and innovative professional musician as well), there really never was any question about my future profession as a creative musician. I always had the calling, didn’t want to do anything else. Of course, the focus has much changed over time, and I really found my niche in early music. I keep reinventing myself as a creative person, and don’t think that will ever stop.

JS: What haven’t you attempted as yet that you would like to do and please tell us why?

JVL: With Early Music Alberta I try to keep doing challenging projects, taking huge risks because it is quite expensive! I really would like to stage a full baroque opera, but haven’t attempted that because, well frankly, I just can’t afford it!

JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?

JVL: Founding Early Music Alberta and seeing what a difference it has made in Alberta of the past 8 years. When I started it, there were very few professional period instrumentalists. Now we have dozens to choose from. It has inspired others to start professional period ensemble in other places in the province also! It has had a great impact into the amateur scene as well, with an ever-growing group of musicians dedicating their free time to playing period instruments and more private teachers feeling that they can teach early music with some authority now!

JS: What advice would you give a young person who would like to do what you do?

JVL: DO IT!!

But be realistic about what it takes to be a musician, an artist. It is very, very hard work that never ever stops. In addition, you work in other people’s free time, so trying to schedule that dinner party with your non-musician friends is nearly impossible! And they must be willing to also teach, as that for many of us is the only “steady” part of our income. I see many young musicians wanting to be the next soloist touring the world, becoming famous and making your money performing, but the reality often turns out to be much different. Or they have their minds set on winning that audition in an orchestra. That is partly a weakness in the university system, which seem to want to train musicians to be soloists or orchestral musicians. That leaves many disappointed and disillusioned. Being a self-employed chamber musician is less financially secure, but if you go in with your eyes wide open, there is nothing more rewarding!

JS: Of what value are critics?

JVL: Oof… that is a tough one. We are our own worst critic already, and often we value (and dread) the critique of our peers most. The problem with many critics is that they really want to look for something negative to say, in the interest of their article. Live music is not a heavily edited CD, and critics sometimes lose sight of that. Having said that; they can certainly help a career tremendously (or break it). Plus, it really is good to hear the perspective from someone outside our own little bubble. How does our music really come across to the audience?

JS: What do you ask of your audience?

JVL: Be engaged! Connect with us. Enjoy the performance!

JS: What specifically would you change about what goes on in the world and the arts?

JVL: Arts funding! It is becoming increasingly difficult to get funding for the arts, and that is a discouraging trend. Governments all over the world are putting less and less subsidies into the arts, leaving organizations to rely more and more on private sponsorships and crowdfunding. While an organization might be successful one year, it might not be able to secure any funding for a next season. It becomes nearly impossible for an organization to make a solid 5-year plan because of the financial insecurity. In the long run that is not sustainable.

Among arts organizations, I strongly believe in actively promoting other organization’s events and mandates and encouraging audiences to experience their events. Too often do I see a kind of “protectionism” in arts organizations and in musicians. I feel strongly that we all should be one big community supporting each other, promoting each other, encouraging each other. Instead many organizations and individuals don’t want to engage with and promote others, and we all lose!

What would be better, for example, than inserting other organizations promotion, or announce your colleagues’ concert in your programs?! The more the better; it shows what a diverse community there is! And instead of seeing it as competition, and a threat to your organization, see it as an encouragement and an opportunity to the community at large to experience even more of what is going on in your area. It will create a much happier arts scene in the long run.

JS: If you could relive one experience from your creative life, what would it be and why would you do so?

JVL: I really treasure so many projects I have done and am always deeply saddened when that project is over and really often wish I could relive that again right then and there. But once that sadness is gone, I put closure to it and I start to immediately make plans for the next creative project. I love the creative process so much. Re-living a former experience would not be very creative, so therefore probably not be as satisfying as it was the first time around!

JS: Tell us what it feels like to be a figure who is presented somehow in the media. What effect does this presence have on you?

JVL: That is a tough one. I don’t think it has an effect on me. I am quite used to it and I don’t mind it.

JS: Name two places you would like to visit, one you haven’t been to and one to experience again and briefly tell us why

JVL: I think I have been to most places that I feel a strong urge to visit. Growing up in Europe gave me access to many great cultural places.

Having said that, I will be in Europe this summer and I will go back to Italy to visit the great cultural cities again.

I have not been in England much and it has been on my to-do list for years, especially to delve more into the history of the early music there. Now this summer I will go to England, and I will visit all the places around London that my cello has been when it was built in 1720. I am really looking forward to that!!

JS: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on, are preparing, or have recently completed. Why do they matter to you and why should they matter to us?

JVL: For my concerts, whether personal, for Early Music Alberta or for the terrific amateur string ensemble I lead, I am trying to create programs that feature music that is seldom performed. While the Four Seasons and the Brandenburg Concertos will guarantee a large audience, I find it a great challenge and inspiration to create different programs as well and expose the musicians and the community to new early music. (And of course, I will also program the great works such as the Four Seasons and the Brandenburg Concertos!)

One of my ongoing projects is Early Music Alberta. I continue to create performance and educational opportunities for Alberta musicians, as I am trying to inspire people to start learning to play period instruments, and offer resources and opportunities to learn and play. In return the audiences get exposed to it! It also entices young musicians who go elsewhere to study early music (since that is not offered at a university in Alberta), to come back to Alberta knowing that there is now growing and thriving early music scene and that I am there to help create performance opportunities for them.

JS: Let’s talk about the state of the arts in today’s society, including the forms in which you work. What specifically gives you hope and what specifically do you find depressing?

JVL: I think I have talked about this in earlier questions already. I do tend to see the positive in most things and personally just make things work whatever the circumstances, even if that means that I do not get paid for it.

But I find the state of government funding and the fact that we have to spend a lot of creative energy in finding alternative sources of funding discouraging. I also find the protectionism among arts organizations a sad trend.

But it is incredibly encouraging to see so that patronage is seeming to make a come-back, and that many artists continue to create really terrific art and so many have brilliant ideas.

JS: Finally, what do you yourself find to be the most intriguing and/or surprising thing about you?

JVL: Hmmm, I don’t know that I can answer that: I think I know myself pretty well at this stage in my life!

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GARY KULESHA: THE COMPOSER, CONDUCTOR, PIANIST, EDUCATOR, AND MENTOR TO MANY YOUNGER ARTISTS EXPLAINS, “ART EXTERNALIZES THE CONFUSING AND UNINTELLIGIBLE IN OUR SOULS AND ALLOWS US TO EXAMINE IT. IT ORGANIZES A MINDLESSLY VIOLENT AND CHAOTIC UNIVERSE INTO A HUMAN-SIZED MICROCOSM.” … A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on March 20, 2018 by strecker


JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, or have done, in the arts, what would you say?

GARY KULESHA: Gary Kulesha is a composer, conductor, pianist, and educator who has been active for almost 50 years. His works have been commissioned, performed, and recorded throughout the world. As a conductor, he has premiered literally hundreds of works by his colleagues. He has been an important mentor to many younger artists.

JS: What important beliefs do you express in or through your work?

GK: Great art changes people. Art serves two important functions: it helps us understand ourselves, and it creates order in chaos. If I do my job correctly, by the end of my piece, you should understand, at least at the unconscious level, something that you did not understand before you heard it. Art externalizes the confusing and unintelligible in our souls and allows us to examine it. It organizes a mindlessly violent and chaotic universe into a human-sized microcosm.

JS: Name two people, living or dead, whom you admire a great deal and tell us why for each one.

GK: I can’t really be this specific because I’m too critical to believe that anyone is without foibles. The good things about each person are usually balanced by the not-so-good things. I really admire Elon Musk, for example, for changing the automotive world and having the commitment to release his patents for free to help others make the change, but I can’t shake the feeling that he is an ego maniac who runs a cult and that he may have some ulterior motive, like controlling battery production for the whole world. I admire and respect anyone who is good at what they do and yet remain self-aware– not exactly humble, but fully aware of what they are and are not good at. I admire committed people whose actions demonstrate that commitment. I admire and respect people who are humane. And I definitely do not like people who don’t like animals.

JS: How have you changed since you began to do creative work?

GK: Oddly enough, I’m not sure that I have changed very much. I started doing creative work at the age of 8 or 9. Even as a teenager, I was very self-directed and self-sufficient. I never responded to peer pressure, I never caved in to the expectations of my teachers, and I did not care about being part of an artistic “club.” These are the same traits I have now. I never cared what anyone thought about me, and I still don’t. I suppose I have, like most people my age, mellowed somewhat in that I no longer engage in arguments about anything, especially aesthetics. Arguing always ends up being “yes, it is, no it isn’t” and I don’t have the time to waste going in circles.

JS: What are your biggest challenges as a creative person?

GK: Writing better music. I always quote Lutoslawski quoting Bartok: when I was young, I wrote the music I could write, not the music I wanted to write. I think we all do this. There is never a point when a good composer is fully satisfied with what they are writing. There is a psychological term, “presque vue”, which refers the experience of feeling that something is about to be revealed, but it never is. I have this about my music. There is a kind of music I want to write, but I don’t know what it is. I had this feeling when I was young, and gradually wrote works which fulfilled what I had been feeling, but I still feel it.

JS: Please describe at least one major turning point in your life.

GK: In 2000, I had been working as a sessional teacher at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music for about 10 years. The Dean, David Beach, got special permission to appoint me to a full-time position. This must have been a colossal undertaking, because I never went to university and have no degrees. But he believed in me, and got me the appointment, and then made me the Coordinator of the Theory and Composition division. I want to point out that David was American. If you look at job posting for Canadian and American universities, the Canadian ones all say “Doctorate required.” The American ones say “Doctorate or career equivalent required.” Americans are better at recognizing special abilities than Canadians. Or perhaps we recognize them, and just don’t want to admit it.

JS: What are the hardest things for an outsider to understand about what you do?

GK: Probably everything. I don’t understand a lot of it myself. Every time I start a new work, I think “How do I do this, again?” Conducting, too, is a mystical thing. Why will professional musicians follow one person, and just grudgingly tolerate another? Why can even the finest and most skilled musician be a terrible conductor? Most people can at least grasp what a composer does, even if they have trouble understanding “where you get your ideas from.” Most people, even wonderful musicians, don’t have a clue why some conductors are great and others, who are perfectly capable, are dull and uninteresting.

JS: How and why did you begin to do creative work in the first place?

GK: I was very young and had a brother who was 4 years older. He began piano lessons and immediately developed an interest in composing his own music. At the same time, our uncle was living with us on and off between marriages and jobs, and he had a passion for boogie woogie and country music. The boogie woogie really rubbed off on me. Between my brother’s love of Mozart and Schubert and my uncle’s love of ostinato-driven piano music, and my own adoration of Chopin, and at least partly because anything my brother could do I was sure I could better, I began writing music.

JS: What haven’t you attempted as yet that you would like to do and please tell us why?

GK: I want to create an opera for orchestra. By this I mean a full-length work that does not rely on staging per se, but rather uses singers, video, dance, and sound track to tell a story. This may sound like a lot of what is going on right now, but my intention is to make it quite literally an opera, with a clearly linear story line and sharply defined characters who sing their roles. I am stymied by money. Because no one sees me as being a media composer, no one will even talk to me about this. It is true that I do not have a great deal of experience in media, but I did “electronic music” in the 80s and 90s, and even taught it, and I made movies when I was a student. I could learn fast.

JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?

GK: Marrying the woman of my life, paying off a home, writing the music I believe in, and teaching young artists I believe in. Also, co-creating and co-directing two important new music festivals, the Massey Hall New Music Festival and the New Creations Festival. And bringing the music of my colleagues to audiences, either by directly performing them or by managing to place them on programmes somehow.

JS: What advice would you give a young person who would like to do what you do?

GK: Music is a calling, not a profession. It is a calling just as surely as the priesthood is a calling. If you are not called, do not enter the profession. Your passion for music must irrationally outweigh every other consideration, and you must be prepared to do what you have to do to be an artist. If something dissuades you from composing or conducting, you are not a composer or a conductor. Learn. There is no freedom without discipline, and there is no creativity without knowledge. Learn everything. Be interested in everything, music, film, philosophy, art, books, everything. Be a human being first and a musician second and a composer or a conductor third. Contain your passion in professionalism. Remember courtesy and self-discipline.

JS: Of what value are critics?

GK: Maureen Forrester once told me “Listen darling, it doesn’t matter what they write about you as long as they write about you.” I suppose an argument can be made that it is professionally valuable to keep your name in the media. A good critic can also illuminate things for audiences. But remember, no one, not even a professional musician, can be absolutely certain about the value of something they have heard only once. Art is in the details. Works that can initially seem unimpressive can slowly reveal themselves to be much deeper than they appeared. Incredibly, Moby Dick was so poorly received it literally ruined Melville’s career, and yet we now know that it may well be the greatest book in the English language. The problem with most contemporary criticism is that it isn’t really criticism, it’s journalism. I remember Robert Everett Green once writing a review of a work of mine that was so intelligent I had to write him a note expressing my thanks. He was mostly positive but questioned the inclusion of the middle movement, articulately and analytically wondering about the structural integrity. That kind of critical writing is very, very rare.

JS: What do you ask of your audience?

GK: That they be like me. I am my own best audience. I hope my real audience wants to hear what I want to hear.

JS: What specifically would you change about what goes on in the world and the arts?

GK: Obviously, I would want the things we all want– peace, equality, breathable air, etc. – but the truth is that these things are unlikely to happen. Humans are consumers, of the things around them and of other humans. When we get to Mars, we’ll consume that too. In the music world, people are still people. It is astounding how small and petty people can be in this business. But then, it’s a business built on ego. Not only do we tolerate the ego of artists, we encourage it and call it “artistic vision.” I would certainly not change this. But an artistic world in which even the biggest narcissists accommodate other people’s ideas and opinions would be better. The politicization of ego is a serious impediment to artistic prosperity. And ego is everywhere. Composers in particular lead such internal lives that they tend to be unable to allow for other people’s opinions.

JS: If you could relive one experience from your creative life, what would it be and why would you do so?

GK: The premiere of my first symphony, conducted by Jukka Pekka Saraste, with me as the second conductor, with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1998. There are many reasons why. I still consider this work to be one of my best. It was surprising to me, and to everyone else. It was hugely successful, despite its astonishing technical demands. The orchestra totally rallied around me, and I could not have felt more supported by my musical colleagues. It was one of those rare occasions when you know you have done something very good, and everyone else knows it as well.

JS: Tell us what it feels like to be a figure who is presented somehow in the media. What effect does this presence have on you?

GK: I couldn’t honestly say that I’m very aware of this. I know objectively that I am somewhat well known in the musical world, that my name appears in newspapers, online, and in books, that I have a listing in a few encyclopedias, that people recognize me, etc., but I couldn’t say that I “feel” it. I’m not famous enough for it to change my life. The effect of what fame I have is that people I don’t know want to talk to me, which I don’t mind. The downside is that anyone in the public eye is reviled by someone, usually irrationally. I remember being with a young composer who had just had some public success when he got his first piece of out-of-the-blue hate mail. He was devastated and upset that someone he had never met took the time to write him a really vicious piece of email. This kind of thing happens to anyone who has a public presence.

JS: Name two places you would like to visit, one you haven’t been to and one to experience again and briefly tell us why.

GK: I don’t have any idea why, but I am obsessed with Tristan de Cunha, the main island of the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world. It is in the south Atlantic and is part of a British protectorate that includes Ascension Island and Saint Helena. I think it seized my imagination when I was 7 years old, in 1961, when the local volcano erupted and all 200 inhabitants had to get into boats and get off the island. I must have Google-Earthed this island 20 times at this point. It’s so remote, though, that getting there is a massive undertaking. I would like to return to two places, Iceland, where I have already been twice, and Scotland. My wife and I were in Iceland for a week last summer and will very likely go again this summer. I love Iceland because of its remoteness and grandeur. Photos and video cannot even slightly capture the massive scale of the distances and mountains. I am told only the outback of Australia comes even close to this amazing experience. My wife has never been to Scotland, perhaps the most beautiful place I have ever been, so we may plan a trip there sometime soon. Scotland also has a craggy beauty but is more pastoral and has a more human scale than Iceland.

JS: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on, are preparing, or have recently completed. Why do they matter to you and why should they matter to us?

GK: A few days ago (March 10,) the Toronto Symphony, Peter Oundjian, violinist Jonathan Crow, and violist Teng Li premiered my Double Concerto at Roy Thomson Hall here in Toronto. This was another experience like the premiere of my first symphony, which I talk about above. Everything just clicked into place with this work and this premiere. The performance was nothing short of astonishing, the audience reaction was spectacular, and the support from the orchestra was inspiring. Why should it matter to you? Because, for better or for worse, whether or not you think we’re successful, we are working hard to make good art, to make Canada a more civilized country, and to become part of the greater international artistic world.

JS: Let’s talk about the state of the arts in today’s society, including the forms in which you work. What specifically gives you hope and what specifically do you find depressing?

GK: I find it depressing that the education system has lost sight of the fact that the arts are an important part of education. We have become a society of trade schools. The raw value of arts training is no longer understood. You don’t have to go on to be an artist to benefit from arts education. You don’t even have to become a regular consumer of art. The discipline of art at a young age changes you, for the better. I find it depressing that, because of the lack of arts training in general schools, there are now two or three generations who don’t know anything about traditional art. We are even seeing this in music at the university, where young composers don’t know anything about music, they are interested only in what they are doing, and in the people who are doing the same things as them. I am encouraged that there are so many young people interested in art, even if they are not that well informed. I am encouraged that new music continues to find listeners, despite the timidity of administrators. I am encouraged by all the experimentation and creativity going on. I am hopeful that, because of the interest of young people in new and fresh things, we may return to a time when people go to symphony orchestra concerts specifically to hear the new thing on the programme, not despite it.

JS: Finally, what do you yourself find to be the most intriguing and/or surprising thing about you?

GK: Nothing intrigues or surprises me about myself. Other people are usually surprised to find that I adore cats, have an expansive knowledge of movies ranging from utter schlock to art films, listen to a lot of pop music, and play fps video games almost every evening I am free. They also surprised that my favourite novelist is Virginia Woolf, and that I am a fanatic about James Bond, the only thing I am fanatical about.

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BORIS BROTT: CONDUCTOR AND “A BUILDER OF ORCHESTRAS” EXPLAINS: “WHAT THE ALCHEMY OF CONDUCTING IS ALL ABOUT IS THE HARDEST OF THINGS FOR AN OUTSIDER TO UNDERSTAND.” …A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on March 18, 2018 by strecker

JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, or have done, in the arts, what would you say?

BORIS BROTT: A builder of orchestras in England (Royal Northern Sinfonia) Wales (BBC National Orchestra of Wales) Canada (Regina, CBC Winnipeg, KW Symphony, Hamilton Philharmonic, McGill Chamber Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia,) USA New West Symphony Los Angeles.

Winner of Gold Medal Mitropoulos International Conductors Competition 1968

Assistant Conductor to Leonard Bernstein.

Principal Conductor Royal Ballet, Covent Garden.

Assistant Conductor Toronto Symphony.

Significant guest conducting symphony and opera in Mexico, Canada, Israel, Scandinavia, Italy, France, USA and Canada.

Principal Guest Conductor Petruzzelli Théâtre Bari, Italy.

A devotion to education: Written and presented over 50 original scripts introducing classical music to young audiences significantly as Principal Youth and Family Conductor of the National Arts Center Orchestra of Canada

Founder of Brott Festival (31 years) & National Academy Orchestra of Canada (30 years)

Significant career as Motivational Speaker for 28 years to present for Fortune 500 corporations.

JS: What important beliefs do you express in or through your work?

BB: Connecting mind and spirit through music – positive reinforcement.

JS: Name two people, living or dead, whom you admire a great deal and tell us why for each one.

BB: Leonard Bernstein: An intellectual and musical genius. He made a significant impact on my life inspiring my musical and written language.

Alexander Brott (my father): Instilled a creative work ethic in me and created the foundation of my musical language.

JS: How have you changed since you began to do creative work?

BB: Listen better, react better to those around me, positively reinforce rather than dictate.

JS: What are your biggest challenges as a creative person?

BB: Faith to stare down the blank piece of paper.

Accepting my failures and using them as a springboard to continued activities.

JS: Please describe at least one major turning point in your life.

BB: Winning NY position & meeting Bernstein

Losing all my work in midlife, attending Law School, rebuilding my life and career.

My marriage to Ardyth

Webster (41 years ago) Her faith and inspiration changed and continues to positively change my life.

The birth and raising of our 3 children Alexandra, David and Benjamin and now being a grandfather to Isabella, Everett and Jonah with a fourth about to arrive!

JS: What are the hardest things for an outsider to understand about what you do?

BB: Understanding what the alchemy of conducting is all about.

JS: How and why did you begin to do creative work in the first place?

BB: Parental influence – Mother Lotte a great musical entrepreneur as well as consummate cellist. Grew up in one room with my parents until 7. No other option but to be a musician.

JS: What haven’t you attempted as yet that you would like to do and please tell us why?

BB: Practice law as well as music. – not the time since possibly too old at 74 to start a new law firm – but not out of the question!

JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?

BB: The professional development of orchestras in Britain, USA and Canada to the point where they made a musical difference in the world.

JS: What advice would you give a young person who would like to do what you do?

BB: Be super prepared – be ready when luck meets you. Be courageous and humble.

JS: Of what value are critics?

BB: Public critics often have personal agendas and their own audiences. So much depends on how responsible they are to the continuity of the art form.

With the diminution of daily newspapers. The positions in all but the largest papers have been made redundant.

The important critics are your colleagues and those closest to you who REALLY care about making you better.

JS: What do you ask of your audience?

BB: Let yourself be carried away. Enjoy, be inspired. « Technical knowledge « is of little importance.

JS: What specifically would you change about what goes on in the world and the arts?

BB: Generally, « caring » about the sanctity of life, about the importance of creativity.

JS: If you could relive one experience from your creative life, what would it be and why would you do so?

BB: Too busy living in the moment.

JS: Tell us what it feels like to be a figure who is presented somehow in the media. What effect does this presence have on you?

BB: You have to consistently remind yourself not to take your reflection too seriously. YOU have the inner standards to measure your accomplishments.

JS: Name two places you would like to visit, one you haven’t been to and one to experience again and briefly tell us why.

BB: China – fascinating country. Musically a giant but NOT in their own music, rather in European music. A real paradox I’d like to experience firsthand.

Italy – love the amazing opera theatres, the warm living people, the gelato and the pasta!

JS: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on, are preparing, or have recently completed. Why do they matter to you and why should they matter to us?

The programming of my two current responsibilities – Brott Music Festival      www.brottmusic.com

Experience the fabulous energetic National Academy Orchestra – you will be blown away.

The same goes for the intimate McGill Chamber Orchestra Www.orchestre.ca

JS: Let’s talk about the state of the arts in today’s society, including the forms in which you work. What specifically gives you hope and what specifically do you find depressing?

BB: I am ever challenged and enthused by the potential.

Reminds me of two shoe salesmen sent to remote central Africa to sell footwear.

First Salesman texted back

« Hopeless situation – they go around barefoot »

Second Salesman:

« Fabulous marketing opportunity – they haven’t discovered shoes yet! »

I’m number 2

20.Finally, what do you yourself find to be the most intriguing and/or surprising thing about you?

BB: I’m intrigued that people care – It inspires me to strive to do better always!

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ROBERT SILVERMAN: PIANIST WITH A “DISCOGRAPHY AMONG THE LARGEST AND MOST COMPREHENSIVE OF ANY CANADIAN PIANIST IN HISTORY” ADVISES, “FIND YOUR OWN WAY. ABOVE ALL, DON’T TRY TO BE THE NEXT LANG LANG OR YUJA WANG. THOSE POSITIONS ARE ALREADY TAKEN” (COMING NEXT A CHOPIN RECITAL AT HAMILTON CONSERVATORY APRIL 29) … A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on March 18, 2018 by strecker

JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, or have done, in the arts, what would you say?

ROBERT SILVERMAN: Eclectic Canadian pianist. (Last one standing of his generation.) Studied engineering and played hockey under contract with Montreal Canadiens before taking up music seriously in his early 20s.  It took him until age 40 to make a NYC debut. Has always devoted a sizeable portion of his energies to teaching. Although not known a proponent of “New Music”, he premiered five Canadian piano concertos by name-brand composers (Hétu, Somers, Coulthard, Louie, M.C. Baker). Discography among the largest and most comprehensive of any Canadian pianist in history. In his later career, tends to focus on music of one composer at a time: Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart.  As he approaches his 80th birthday, Chopin has caught his attention.

JS: What important beliefs do you express in or through your work?

RS: To bring the composer’s notes on a page to life as vividly as possible, to reveal his patterns of musical thought, while neither adding anything that is not there, nor subtracting anything that is there. I am well aware that such an endeavour is not the easiest path to fame and fortune. Moreover, this is certainly not the only way of playing; nor is it the only way of playing well. However, it is definitely the most difficult way to play, and for better or worse, it is the only way I feel that I’m doing an honest day’s work.

JS: Name two people, living or dead, whom you admire a great deal and tell us why for each one.

RS: Solomon (Cuttner) for his musical rigour, and Ivan Moravec for raising the craft of technique to an art-form almost independent of musical interpretation.  I don’t remotely sound like either, nor would I want to even if I were in their league.

JS: How have you changed since you began to do creative work?

RS: I grew up a bit.

JS: What are your biggest challenges as a creative person?

RS: Technique. I was not and am not a “natural,” and it has always been difficult for me. But I am still making progress, even as my stamina is not what it once was.

JS: Please describe at least one major turning point in your life.

RS: 1. Making that “delayed” NYC debut – 2 different recitals at Tully Hall a week apart. It did wonders for my self-confidence as an artist.  Hell, as a person too.

2. Learning and performing the 32 Beethoven sonatas after I retired from UBC. It set me on a different musical trajectory that shows no sign of slowing down after 20 years.

JS: What are the hardest things for an outsider to understand about what you do?

RS: See the answers I’ve provided thus far.

JS: How and why did you begin to do creative work in the first place?

RS: I don’t know. It was always a part of my life as far back as I remember.

JS: What haven’t you attempted as yet that you would like to do and please tell us why?

RS: Schubert on a period instrument.  I have never been able to perform him to my satisfaction on a modern instrument, and I do love his music.

JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?

RS: Being an artist who never stops growing and evolving.  As Toscanini said, “Every time I conduct a piece I’ve performed previously, all I can think about is how stupid I was then.)

JS: What advice would you give a young person who would like to do what you do?

RS: Don’t.  Find your own way.  Above all, don’t try to be the next Lang Lang or Yuja Wang.   Those positions are already taken.

JS: Of what value are critics?

RS: Some are more perceptive than others to say the least. Here’s an article I wrote for Globe and Mail in 1987 following Kraglund’s — surely the most hateful of Canadian music critics, ever — retirement. (They refused it, saying that of course they agreed with me, but they didn’t see the point to it.)

ON MUSIC CRITICISM AND RETIREMENT PARTIES by Robert Silverman

Recently, Zena Cherry listed the guests attending a party honouring John

Kraglund on the occasion of his retirement as Senior Music Critic of this

newspaper. The resulting hiatus has provided me with a timely opportunity to

offer his successor a few general observations about music criticism from a

performer’s standpoint, while avoiding the obvious pitfalls involved in taking

any particular writer to task.

“Congratulations! You have landed one of Canada’s most prestigious

positions in the field of music journalism. You undoubtedly were selected for

the job because you write well, your training and experience have enabled you to

discuss a broad range of musical issues cogently, and above all, your love of

music is both passionate and profound. As a result, you now have the good

fortune to be paid to attend the finest concerts to be heard in your city.

Furthermore, given the level of Toronto’s cultural activity nowadays, the vast

majority of artists you hear will be of world, or at least national, class.

“You naturally will bring to your work your own aesthetic orientation, your

personal likes and dislikes, and this is as it should be. Your appointment

carries with it, however, the further assumption that you possess the capacity

to differentiate between subjective and objective elements of performance. Rest

assured that most serious artists today are aware of the various interpretive

possibilities inherent in a given work, they have heard all the recordings you

have heard, and they have thought long and hard about how the piece should be

played. What they have arrived at may not match your own conception, but their

approach may be equally valid, and must be judged on its own merits.

“A few more caveats may be in order. Remember that a critic who habitually

pans performers who are universally acclaimed by critics and musicians alike

probably is telling his readers much more about his own limitations than the

artist’s. Moreover, should a critic arrive at the point where he condemns more

concerts than he praises, there is a strong likelihood that it is music itself

he no longer enjoys, rather than any specific performance of it. True, he may

still enjoy writing on the subject. He may even get a special charge out of

slinging poisoned arrows at artists who he is well aware cannot, or will not be

bothered to respond; but as any perceptive reader knows, that sort of activity

has little to do with either music or criticism.

“Legend has it that the members of an orchestra, exasperated by the rough

treatment they persistently received at the hands of their local critic, xeroxed

all their diplomas and degrees, and sent him the package together with a note

stating “Here are our credentials. Show us yours!” The gesture was a little

juvenile, of course, since it is indeed possible to listen intelligently without

extensive formal training. On the other hand, not having undergone a rigourous

musical education over many years, and not spending countless hours practicing

virtually every day of one’s life does not necessarily render a critic more

qualified than a performer to know how a given work should be played.

“It must be extraordinarily difficult for a critic to leave a concert hall

night after night and knock off a review in the few minutes remaining before his

deadline. It is understandable that the muses cannot always be by the writer’s

side under such conditions: therefore, during those inevitable dry spells, it

might be advisable simply to mention who played what, much in the manner that

Zena Cherry listed the guests at your predecessor’s retirement party. In any

case, if in assessing the concerts you attend, you ensure that wit never

replaces wisdom, and sarcasm never masquerades as insight, you will elevate

music criticism in your current working environment to the noble profession it

potentially can be.”

(Robert Silverman is a Vancouver-based Canadian pianist of international

reputation. He appears frequently in Toronto and Hamilton and Niagara-on-the-Lake.


JS: What do you ask of your audience?

RS: Leave your cellophane candy wrappers and very young children at home.  Don’t come with the specific goal of being entertained (although I hope you will be), but rather to embark with me upon an adventure of discovery and exploration.

JS: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on, are preparing, or have recently completed. Why do they matter to you and why should they matter to us?

RS: I am still in my Chopin phase. I remain gobsmacked by this man’s genius, and the totally original way he composes. I learn something new every single time I practice or perform his music. I feel exhilarated and enriched.  But I cannot tell others why this should matter to them, although I hope it would.

JS: Let’s talk about the state of the arts in today’s society, including the forms in which you work. What specifically gives you hope and what specifically do you find depressing?

Hopeful: the level of instrumental performance these days is as good as, and in many instances, better than it ever was.  Composers have rediscovered, after a half century, that writing music that some people may like is not a crime.  Depressing: Orchestras, containing musicians who are at the above level, schedule concerts made up of Video Game music.

JS: Finally, what do you yourself find to be the most intriguing and/or surprising thing about you?

RS: When I was in Grade X, my teacher once told me that I was pretty smart but that I lacked intellectual curiosity. I must say, in retrospect, that he was right at the time, and for quite a while afterwards. But something began clicking in shortly after I turned 30, and thus far, it seems that my life trajectory has been akin to a Sibelius Symphony: It started with promising fragments, but has been crescendoing for a long while.

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CAROLINE TOAL: ACTRESS, JUST ENDING A GRIPPING PERFORMANCE IN “BLACKBIRD” AT THEATRE AQUARIUS, DECLARES “THROUGH MY WORK, I TRY TO CAPTURE THE IDEA THAT PEOPLE ARE INTENSELY COMPLICATED. WITH ALL MY CHARACTERS, I STRIVE TO SHOW THE ‘GOOD’ AND THE ‘BAD’. I REALLY LIKE SHOWING THE ‘BAD’….A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on March 5, 2018 by strecker

JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, or have done, in the arts, what would you say?

CAROLINE TOAL: I am an actor. I take the playwright’s work and I attempt to make it come alive. The writer will give me a character and it is my job to take that person off of the page and make them real. It is my job to find out why that person is doing what they are doing in the story. It is my job to tell their story. It’s my job to feel what they feel and think what they think and take the audience on a journey as to why this person does what they do to serve the bigger story.

JS: What important beliefs do you express in or through your work?

CT: Through my work, I try to capture the idea that people are intensely complicated. With all my characters, I strive to show the “good” and the “bad”. I really like showing the bad. Ultimately, my belief is that people just want to feel for other people and connect with other people. They want to relate to the people and characters onstage and potentially feel less alone. I want that for everyone watching my work. I try to make my work all about connection and love. I am always striving to connect with the other person I am acting with and also to find the parts of them that I love. I want the audience to feel and escape their life for a bit. That’s all. I escape my life for a little bit because I get to focus on someone else. I want to take everything I feel and put it out there for other people to feel.

JS: How have you changed since you began to do creative work?

CT: I’ve been doing creative work all my life, so I can’t really remember a time when I wasn’t doing creative work. However, I will say that when I find myself in a time between contracts and I’m not taking care of myself and nurturing my artist, I turn into a completely different person. When I’m spending days not being creative I am unhappy, jealous, easily depressed, tired, and negative. I don’t feel like the person I want to be and I am definitely not my best self. Figuring this out has been super important to me. When I’m creating my own art, I’m happy, purposeful, joyful, I’m a better friend, a better child, I have more energy and am positive. Being creative means being the best I human I can be.

JS: What are your biggest challenges as a creative person?

CT: Money is the first thing that comes to mind. Finding a job that gives me enough money and keeping my spirits up and remembering that I am an artist first is difficult. Our society is not set up to cater to artists, which is fine, it is what it is – but it makes it very hard to remember that artists are valuable and important too. The artistic lifestyle is the only one I seem capable of living, so being free and not having commitments to other non-artistic things all the time is very important to me. The balance of making money to live and still doing my art is very hard. It took a long time for me to value myself as an artist and to put a price on my work as well.

JS: What haven’t you attempted as yet that you would like to do and please tell us why?

CT: I would like to attempt directing and stand up comedy. I want to do stand up because it seems terrifying but I know the rush I would get from it would be amazing. I’m beginning to discover that I am a rush seeker. I want to attempt directing because I want to learn to tell as story from a greater, broader standpoint – not just the view of the character. I think I would particularly enjoy directing for camera. I also want to try DOPing. I have zero experience. I kind of just want to try everything before I die. Swimming with sharks, polar dip, backpacking, living in a commune… truly everything. May stay away from base jumping though. Seems like a sure way I would die before my time.

I’d like to do more Shakespeare, but I’d also like to keep playing dark, emotionally fucked up characters. I like that kind of stuff. I like playing characters who are messy because I am – we all are. I’d also really like to get more into on camera work. It almost feels like a different craft and I’d love to explore that more.

JS: What are the hardest things for an outsider to understand about what you do?

CT: I think there are many things that are difficult for an outsider to understand, but I think the biggest would probably be that our career is 24/7 job. There are no set hours and I am always thinking about work. It’s hard for me not to always be thinking about art and creating. Personally, I think it’s hard for others to understand my passion for what I do. It can often verge on obsession when I’m working on a show. I am pretty obsessed with my craft and that can be good and bad.

JS: How and why did you begin to do creative work in the first place?

CT: When I was a kid, I would go to see my best friend’s Dad in community theatre in Orangeville where I grew up. I remember watching Oklahoma and wanting to be up there being a different person too! From there, when I was about 12, my parents put me in the Young Company at Theatre Orangeville. An incredible person by the name of Pablo Felices Luna was directing our shows and I was so taken by how he treated a bunch of children as if we were real, serious actors. He really is the reason I am an actor. We did the Hobbit the first year and I starred as Viola in Twelfth Night the following year. I was hooked! I became a little Shakespeare nerd at aged 13.

JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?

CT: Being nominated for a Dora for To Kill A Mockingbird was a huge accomplishment. Even being cast in To Kill A Mockingbird at YPT was a huge accomplishment. It was my first big professional production. Also, I am just really proud to have worked with so many of the talented artists that I have worked with throughout my career thus far. I have just come off working on Blackbird at Theatre Aquarius with Randy Hughson and Marcia Kash and they were both incredible and I learned so much from being close to their experience and talent.

JS: What advice would you give a young person who would like to do what you do?

CT: I would ask a young actor: “Are you good at handling highs and lows? Are you good at keeping yourself motivated when there is no work to be done? Are you prepared to live frugally? How much do you love it? Are you good at anything else that you love as much?”

JS: Of what value are critics?

CT: It’s hard to say what value critics are. It’s a complicated question for me. For my own personal work as an actor they are of very little value – however, if a show that I am in gets reviewed well and I get a mention that can be very helpful. I think it can be really helpful to have good press and a professional opinion to promote/sell yourself. However, I think any artist would agree that it is just one person’s opinion. Whether they are an expert in theatre or not, it’s just their opinion. If someone doesn’t like your work… that’s that. Nothing you can do about that. But maybe there is a 9-year-old kid who loved the show. Or a 72-year-old woman who got something out of the show or felt moved by your performance. That’s the thing that matters to me. There are loads of times that I have to remind myself that theatre is not for the critics. It’s for the audiences.

JS: What do you ask of your audience?

CT: I ask my audience to TURN OFF THEIR PHONES for the love of god. Be respectful that we are humans up here trying to focus – although, I do love vocal commenting if it’s engaged.

JS: What specifically would you change about what goes on in the world and the arts?

CT: Hmmmm… I’d like the arts to have more money. I’d like theatres to program a wider range of shows. It’s already starting to happen, but I love seeing stories from people who have vastly different experiences than I do. I grew up in Orangeville, Ontario, which was VERY white and Christian. I LOVE seeing shows that reflect a completely different upbringing than I experienced. I crave stories of different cultures.

JS: If you could relive one experience from your creative life, what would it be and why would you do so?

CT: I’d re-do theatre school. I would re-do this recent show, Blackbird. I would re-do most of the shows I’ve ever worked on. I would re-do every on-camera audition I’ve ever had in my life. I would re-do all the talkbacks at YPT because children are fascinating and I love the way they think.

JS: Tell us what it feels like to be a figure who is presented somehow in the media. What effect does this presence have on you?

CT: I have been in some media and it’s interesting. I don’t mind it because it’s about my work and art. If it was about me personally, that would be weird, but I like when people talk about the theatre that I am a part of.

JS: Name two places you would like to visit, one you haven’t been to and one to experience again and briefly tell us why

CT: I’d like to go to the Grand Canyon because I’ve never been to the desert. I want to check one of the wonders of the world off my list and I want to experience that different type of heat. If I had to go back somewhere, I would go back to PEI and/or South America. I visited PEI when I was a child and don’t remember it well so I’d love to go back and experience that again. I feel I would fit in pretty well on the East Coast. I’d like to go back to Rio because it gave me incredible culture shock and I think I need to be reminded of that again… also it’s beautiful and the people are amazing.

JS: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on, are preparing, or have recently completed. Why do they matter to you and why should they matter to us?

CT: I worked on Blackbird at Theatre Aquarius and it was an incredible experience from the people I worked with, working in an A house, working on that challenging play, experiencing Hamilton. All of it was incredible. I still can’t believe I was cast and that I got to work with the amazingly talented artists that I did.

JS: Let’s talk about the state of the arts in today’s society, including the forms in which you work. What specifically gives you hope and what specifically do you find depressing?

CT: It gives me hope that different, more diverse stories are being told. It gives me hope that casting is now more diverse. It gives me hope that we are seeing messier more complicated stories on stage. It gives me hope that women are now being allowed a bigger place in positions of power. I’m disappointed by the lack of money.

JS: Finally, what do you yourself find to be the most intriguing and/or surprising thing about you?

CT: I am constantly surprising myself by who I am and how quickly I change. If I had to choose one thing currently, I’d say that I surprised myself by loving working out. It helps me mentally and I love the feeling of my body getting stronger. I’m 27 and a few weeks ago I stepped into a gym for the first time. Knowing myself beforehand, I could have never predicted that I would love it so much. It’s wild.

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AMANDA FORSYTHE: CELEBRATED SOPRANO WHO JOINS “THE FABULOUS BAROQUE BAND” TAFELMUSIK FOR HANDEL’S ALEXANDER’S FEAST (FEBRUARY 22-25) DISCOVERS “MY KIDS MAKE ME LAUGH LIKE CRAZY, AND THE JOY THEY BRING ME CARRIES OVER TO MY PERFORMANCES.” …A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on February 21, 2018 by strecker

Concert info at http://www.tafelmusik.org/concert-calendar/concert/handel-alexanders-feast

JAMES STRECKER: What important beliefs do you express in or through your work?

AMANDA FORSYTHE: I believe that as performers, our most important job is to share our love of the music and create a type of bond with the audience. I try so hard to communicate with the public, and there are incredibly beautiful moments when you can feel energy radiating back at you from an involved audience. It nurtures and buoys our performances, and I think it is this collective spirit that really brings music to life.

JS: How have you changed since you began to do creative work?

AF: I think that in the beginning of my career, I was trying to sing everything “correctly”, with the notes and rhythms sung exactly as they appear on the page. With experience, of course, comes the confidence that you can expressively stretch a note, or dot a rhythm, or take a breath without embarrassment, if it serves to make the music more beautiful, or dramatic, or tragic, or haunting. Of course, you can take these liberties with a fabulous baroque band like Tafelmusik, who are accustomed to collaborating with the singer, and who are flexible and open-eared!

JS: What are the hardest things for an outsider to understand about what you do?

AF: I think many non-musicians imagine that we have wholly glamorous lives, when the reality is that much of our job is writing emails, updating websites, fundraising, and schlepping our gowns, tuxedos, and instruments through airport security. If all we had to do was make music, it would be incredible! It’s true that performing is exhilarating, but most of us have to travel to make a living, and being on the road for a long time can be exhausting and very lonely.

JS: Of what value are critics?

AF: I’m one of those singers who likes to read reviews. Of course, for every 99 good things you hear, it’s the 1 negative comment that you remember! But good or bad, without a review, I almost feel like the performance didn’t happen (If a tree falls in the woods, etc). I think a lot of the most honest reviews come from bloggers, who provide the so-called person on the street opinion. It’s good to know what the public likes, because at the end of the day, they are the ones buying tickets and CDs. We need the critics, to spread the word, to fill the seats, to keep the arts in the thoughts and minds of our potential audiences.

JS: What specifically would you change about what goes on in the world and the arts?

AF: I recently sang with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and my driver from the airport was talking about the new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings, which cost over a billion dollars to build. A billion dollars, and most of it came from the taxpayers! Can you imagine if the arts were given such consideration in our society? Despite numerous studies showing that the arts, and music in particular, provide more learning benefits to children than any other subject, these programs are always the first to be cut in times of financial crisis. I hope that future administrations will place more value on the necessity of the arts in our schools.

JS: Please describe at least one major turning point in your life.

AF: Having kids was a huge turning point for me, and I think it actually helped, rather than hindered, my career. I stopped saying “yes” to the jobs that didn’t pay enough to cover child care, and with less work, had the time to rest and practice between the bigger jobs. But more importantly, I stopped taking myself so seriously. Before kids, I had a whole performance day routine, and now I’m likely to be digging in the garden for worms 3 hours before I walk on stage. My kids make me laugh like crazy, and the joy they bring me carries over to my performances.

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