MOYA O’CONNELL: ACTRESS AND SHAW FESTIVAL MAINSTAY DISCUSSES THEATRE AND HER CREATIVE LIFE -“I ONLY ASK THAT THE AUDIENCE ALLOW THEMSELVES TO BE OPEN. I WANT THEM TO GIVE THEMSELVES TO ME. I WANT THEM TO BE MY PARTNER IN ADVENTURE.” — A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on November 9, 2016 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?

MOYA O’CONNEL: Canadian theatre actress. Anglo-Irish heritage. Spent 6 seasons at Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival playing all manner of ingénues and heroines, then leapt across the country where she has spent another 9 seasons at The Shaw Festival playing all manners of heroines and Harridans. Currently working on a new creation called The Wedding Party at Crows Theatre in Toronto. She also works in film and TV.

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

MOC: I believe that beauty changes things. I believe in the power of Art. Art as a weapon, Art as a salve, Art as a political act, Art as spiritual communion. I believe in following the play and not inserting your own lousy puny ego into your performance. I believe it’s important not to be afraid to be ugly up there. Ugly of soul, I mean. So many great works of art have rotting or tormented souls in struggle at their centre. I try to be brave about that. These are some of my beliefs. I have no idea if I ever achieve in communicating them. I keep in pursuit.

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

MOC: I admire above all my mother and father. They live almost entirely self-sufficiently on a small croft on Vancouver Island. They are immigrants, tireless workers, social justice and poverty advocates, who also happen to be peaceful, kind, funny, political, and deeply interested in other people. They have always lived outside society’s mainstream expectations of them. They are true blue originals and best of all they still love to dance with each other.

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

MOC: How have I changed? Have I? I don’t know that things have fundamentally shifted inside of me since beginning creative work. I definitely live outside of the structure, safety and confines of a ‘regular’ life, but I never wanted a ‘regular’ life anyway. I tried it once and ran away from it about as quickly as it is humanly possible. If anything fundamental has shifted because of art, I would say it is that I have gained a deep love for the soiled human soul and have learned to accept and even enjoy failure and weakness in myself and others. Failure is an essential part of creativity. It’s the cracks that let the light in.

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

MOC: My friend has a framed picture in her house which reads “easy now”. I don’t think I am able to articulate why these two words sitting side by side seem to define my challenges as an artistic person. They just do. Take from it what you will.

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

MOC: Artistically, there have been two major turning points in my life. The first was when I met my now husband Torquil Campbell and his family. His mother Moira Wylie and father Douglas Campbell hired me for a season of Shakespeare in a repertory company. I fell in love with the entire family. Here was a group of people for whom Art paid for the bread on their table, their electricity bill and their house. Art was discussed, well not discussed, obsessed over, shouted about, and dreamt up over the dinner table, breakfast table and bathtub. They were not afraid to have a strong opinion about it, and they felt that they had a right and even a social obligation to be artists. There were always young destitute, impassioned artists living in their basement. Their house was a place where ideas and wine flew about in equal measure. They gave me the courage to be an artist.

The other major artistic turning point for me was when my daughter was born. I had already been at the Shaw Festival for 2 successful seasons when I gave birth to Ellington. She had some health problems and at 9 months of age she had to undergo major reconstructive head surgery at Toronto Sick Kids hospital. Let’s just say it was a difficult time. I was supposed to go back to Shaw that season to star in An Ideal Husband and The Women. I knew that if ANYTHING went askew during this surgery I would drop the contract, leaving former Artistic Director Jackie Maxwell with days to find a replacement. I explained this to Jackie and said I felt it only fair to take myself out of the season. She wrote back to me saying that WE were going to proceed with “aggressive optimism” and she wouldn’t let me back out because she believed everything would be ok. It was at that moment I dedicated my loyalty to her and realized how important loyalty is in this collaborative Art form. The idea of climbing any kind of artistic ladder disappeared for me. I realized it is a complete illusion anyway. Loyalty and trust in an artistic union are what I am interested in cultivating.

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

MOC: I think it’s hard for someone who is not an artist to understand why one would sacrifice wealth and security and a “normal life” for one bent on unpredictability and poverty. And indeed, it’s difficult to explain to them that the reasons have nothing to do with fame or notoriety, but something closer to a sense of freedom and a stirring in the soul that will not be ignored.

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

MOC: I don’t have an answer for why I decided to get into creative work. It may have something to do with how I was brought up. On a self-sufficient farm on the side of a mountain, in the middle of a beautiful nowhere with a pack of brothers and sisters and immigrant parents with poetry in their souls. We always felt very different from other people and made a virtue of it. Certainly being the fifth of six children set me up for the collective, collaborative nature of the theatre.

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

MOC: I would love to direct. I would love to build my own house. I would love to learn how to bake a perfect loaf of bread. I would love to learn about trees and I would love to write something of deep beauty.

JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?

MOC: My greatest achievement as a human thus far is being a good mum. It is what gives me the most pleasure and satisfaction. Balancing that with being an artist, a wife, a good friend and daughter while staying sane is not exactly revolutionary, I know, but it’s enough for me.

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

MOC: Create your own work! It is wonderful to be an interpreter, but there is a ceiling for creative outlet as an interpreter. It is always someone else’s words, and vision. Make your own work. It gives you agency, it gives you options, it gives you a voice.

JS: Of what value are critics?

MOC: Theatre critics are valuable. They are much reviled and obsessed over by artists, but the best ones can really help an artistic community become strong and feel empowered. The worst ones do the opposite. They are the connective tissue between the art and the audience. Of course, things are really changing in our modern landscape with social media and the continuing demise of newspapers. They seem to be gasping for breath and relevancy as sites like trip advisor and twitter democratize the audience experience. A friend and former music critic recently told me that the average time a reader spends looking at a review (this was in the popular online music magazine he worked for) was 1.5 seconds. I blame that on the scoring and point system. It’s anathema to art and art criticism and needs to be done away with.

JS: What do you ask of your audience?

MOC: I only ask that the audience allow themselves to be open. I want them. I want them to give themselves to me. I want them to be my partner in adventure. I love the moment I meet them. If I fuck it up (which I often do) then I allow and accept their judgment and scrutiny…..but those first moments together are always so exciting.

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

MOC: I am writing the answers to this interview a few days before the U.S. Election. I feel like there is a virus sweeping across the world. A virus of fear which is showing its symptoms as right wing extremism and xenophobia. There is a line in Shakespeare’s King John “And as I travelled hither through the land, I find the people strangely fantasied, possessed of rumours, full of idle dreams. Not knowing what they fear but full of fear.” That seems a pretty apt summation of today’s climate. I don’t know how to change it except to live according to the values and creeds I believe in…..that tolerance and love and beauty change things. As does truth to power. I sure hope when I read this interview things will have shifted for the better.

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

MOC: I don’t think I would relive any artistic experience. What makes it so beautiful is its ephemeral quality. Of course, I am aware of having been terribly mediocre many times, but I don’t think I would change it. Acknowledging my mediocrity is an important part of getting better

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

MOC: I am not really aware of being a figure in the media. Am I a figure in the media? I live in Niagara on the Lake which is one street and everyone knows absolutely everyone else. I think my 7 year old daughter is more famous in NOTL than I am. And in the winters I live in Vancouver where no one knows me. I think being a Canadian theatre actress pretty much guarantees you complete anonymity, truth be told. Which should fine by me. If people do recognize me from the theatre, I am always a bit shy because I have tended to play such tormented heroines and I often think they may carry a bit of those performances with them in their perception of me.

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

MOC: I dream about travel hmmmm….I would say at least a couple hours a day. There are so many places I hope to visit. Probably not healthy but definitely an obsession. Today? If pressed I would say Greece. A sailing trip. And then spending time on a few of the smaller less known islands like Hydra and Sifnos. A villa on a cliff. A donkey. Some great people to share it with. As for a place I would revisit? I would head back to the North Coast (Haena) of Kauai any time. I have been there twice and I dream of it regularly. The hiking and kayaking and surfing are not to be believed. Its paradise.

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.

MOC: I have recently begun working on an audio documentary on acting George Bernard Shaw. The idea was born when I was looking for source material on how to approach his plays from an actor’s perspective and could find almost nothing. I realized that many of the actors at the Shaw Festival have acted in more Shaw plays than anyone on this planet and there is no record of their experiences save individual interviews. So…I have begun a massive project of interviewing as many skilled Shavian actors as I can get my hands on. The list is long (the Shaw celebrated its 55th season this year) and the interviews are completely revelatory. I am terribly excited about the possibilities. I have also been working on adapting a few stories by Edwardian satirist ‘Saki’ (aka H.H. Munro) into a theatrical piece. His work is brilliantly macabre. Stay tuned….

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?

MOC: I find the word “consumer” in reference to an audience member to be incredibly depressing. It’s used all the time. Not just in art but in society. I/we/they are not “consumers”, we are citizens, members of an audience, people. I reject that word completely. The theatre is in a tricky place but, you know, it has been for a very, very long time. In a strange way what gives me hope is the theatre’s old fashioned “outdated-ness”. At this point in history we are asking a group of people to put away their smart phones, their food, their booze and sit in a room and watch a story in the dark together. It’s positively fetishistic! In an artistic culture which has become a slave to the audience becoming the centre of the piece. “Look at you! You are the star! It’s your show…the audience is the show! Create your own mythology by using us, the artists, as your landscape”. The theatre still demands the audience abandons ego and give themselves to IT. It’s a powerful place to be and there are tremendous opportunities in it. We are so far behind we may just be ahead.

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

MOC: Many people think I am a wolf. I am actually a golden retriever.

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IVARS TAURINS, AKA MR. HANDEL, DISCUSSES HISTORICALLY-INFORMED PERFORMANCE, A LIFE IN MUSIC, THE TAFELMUSIK CHAMBER CHOIR ON ITS 35TH ANNIVERSARY, AND THE TAFELMUSIK ANNUAL SING-ALONG MESSIAH: A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on October 23, 2016 by strecker

Photos by Gary Beechey

JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, what would you say?

IVARS TAURINS: I guess I’d have to open with: an “HIP” (historically-informed performance) conductor, enjoying a career in which I’m equally comfortable in both orchestral and choral repertoire, with an added “specialist” interest in 17th c. to early 19th c. repertoire (i.e. baroque and classical).

The “HIP” aspect is, though, for me the credo of my musical expression in all music, whether I’m conducting Purcell or Poulenc, Bach or Brahms. I find great satisfaction in learning how to appreciate and experience something on its own terms, rather than through a translation that fits my own comfort zone of familiarity.

Sorry, that’s over 100 words. (Editor’s note: My pleasure)

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

IT: Hopefully, a communication of emotions and messages that strike one to the core of one’s soul, whether it be with the musicians I’m collaborating with, or with the audience. I agree wholeheartedly with the late Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s statement (and I’m paraphrasing here) that he would prefer it if half the audience were totally convinced by a performance of his, and the other half hated it, rather than to have everyone in the audience equally think it was “nice.” He once announced at a concert “I wish you not a nice evening, but a stirring one,” mirroring Handel’s line to Lord Kinnoull, after the latter’s compliments on the “noble entertainment” of his Messiah: “I should be sorry if I only entertained them, I wish to make them better.”

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

IT: Both sadly gone: Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and Carlos Kleiber. Both were filled with the fire of music, and with an understanding of its potency, purpose and deep spirituality. They breathed it – and its expression was made manifest through their remarkable communicative powers. To watch Carlos Kleiber, for example in the rehearsal film-clip of him directing the ‘Liebestod’ from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, or conducting Beethoven’s 7th symphony with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, or Harnoncourt rehearsing the Beethoven symphonies is a rich lesson in and of itself.

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

IT: I think that, as in all things, experience, age, and maturity temper and inform one’s creative work. But I don’t think that I’ll ever lose my sense of child-like wonder and exuberance when hearing or making music.

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

IT: Self-doubt -and the realization that the one’s efforts can ultimately never, ever reach the perfection one strives to attain.

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

IT: Listening to a recording at around the age of 17 of a Concerto for 4 violins in G major by Telemann, played on period instruments (Harnoncourt, again). It was an epiphany – a “portkey” to a new and wondrous world of expression and sonorities. And, as many of my colleagues have said about their first experiences with period performance, it felt right.

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

IT: That my work is not a 9-5 experience, that directing a rehearsal, or teaching a conducting class can be as exhausting and invigorating as running a marathon. That a musician’s life isn’t governed by a Monday to Friday framework.

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

IT: I don’t think anyone really chooses to begin “creative work”. It is a need that craves to be fulfilled. One doesn’t set out to be creative, just the same as one cannot govern what creative genes will be passed down to you (or not).

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

IT: I have so many other interests outside of music that I only can find time to dabble in. If I had another life, I’d want to devote it to some sort of creative work in museums, art or decorative art restoration work, historical costumes, curatorial work….

JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?

IT: Though not actually an “achievement” per se as much as a fulfillment, firstly, my family: my wife Charlotte, and our daughters Larissa and Madeleine.

Secondly, being part of Tafelmusik for over 3 1/2 decades, and through that collaboration seeing many corners of the world, experiencing other cultures, and making music with so many inspirational musicians -and sharing that life-experience with my wife, Charlotte Nediger, who has also been an integral part of Tafelmusik over these many years.

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

IT: Don’t try to emulate someone else’s experience. Create something that is truly your own. In the end, it will be far more rewarding.

JS: What do you ask of your audience?

IT: I don’t ask anything of my audience, except perhaps an open mind and willingness to share in an experience that may be new to them. But that willingness must be built on a foundation of trust, an acknowledgement that what we are presenting and sharing with them is of the highest possible excellence. With that mutual trust and respect in place, both musician and audience can explore and experience the wonderful tastes of many musical cuisines, some familiar, some new.

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

IT: That culture is not a four-letter word, or an elitist pastime. That it is the very fabric of our existence. The word culture comes from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning “to cultivate”. And Culture needs to be cultivated and nourished. It is not a commodity to be turned on and off like tap water at our whim – it is a precious gift and legacy to be protected and tended if it is to grow and flourish. Whether it is the Parthenon, or the Taj Mahal, Bach’s Goldberg Variations or Mozart’s Requiem, the Mona Lisa or the frescoes of Pompeii, we have all been shaped by the cultural relevance of these precious things.

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

IT: I’m not actually sure that I’d want to relive a creative experience again. I think it would be coloured by one’s hindsight, and by one’s critical observation, and, because of that, lose something of its essence and magic. The same is true, I find, when one relives a live performance through a recording.

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.

IT: I’d like to visit Scandinavia, particularly Sweden and Norway, or the far northern reaches of Scotland. I’d like to revisit the beaches of the north coast of Norfolk, or the rugged cliffs and turquoise waters of North Devon… and I’ll always yearn to have a dose of Tofino, British Columbia, with its miraculous mix of ocean, mountains, beaches and rain forests.

Why? The same answer for all – Nature is so revitalizing – it puts everything into its proper perspective, and it never ceases to overwhelm with its beauty and purity.

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.

IT: The Tafelmusik Chamber Choir celebrates its 35 anniversary this season, and we are in the midst of rehearsals for the choir’s first programme of the season – a celebration including works by Handel, Rameau, Zelenka, Lully, and Steffani. Later in the season, we’ll be presenting “A Bach Tapestry” – I’ve created a programme of lesser and well-known choruses from Bach’s cantatas woven together with instrumental works, including new arrangement for strings of his Italian Concerto.

We will of course have our annual concert performances of Handel’s Messiah at Koerner Hall in Toronto, and then Mr. Handel (aka yours truly), who will soon be powdering his wig and brushing off his finest suit, will once again lead the proceedings (and an audience chorus of 2,700) at Tafelmusik’s Sing-along Messiah – this season celebrating its 30th anniversary!

Finally, our season will culminate in performances of Mozart’s remarkable Mass in C-Minor.

In March, I’ll be heading out to British Columbia to guest direct the Victoria Symphony in a programme of Mozart and Haydn.
And I’m already researching and planning programmes for the 2017-18 season, both with Tafelmusik, and also with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, where I curate and direct an annual Bach festival.

Why does it – why should it – matter to me, or you? Please see my previous answers concerning my important beliefs, why I began to do creative work, what I ask of an audience, and what I would change about what goes on I the world.

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CHRISTY BRUCE: STAR OF SPONTANEOUS THEATRE AND THE INTERNATIONALLY POPULAR PRODUCTION “BLIND DATE”: A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on October 20, 2016 by strecker

JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, what would you say?

CHRISTY BRUCE Christy Bruce is an improviser who specializes in Spontaneous Theatre. She has spent a lot of time improvising with a different audience member each night and making them look like they’ve been improvising their whole lives.

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

CB: That improvisation is about having each other’s backs! Support your partner, make them look AMAZING and you, in turn, will look amazing. When it comes to working with “civilians”, it’s the same principal with the added bonus of showcasing a person that you’d most likely not ever meet in your real life. Every person is interesting, every person is connected. For me, this is a really important message in a world that has growing fears of people that might be different then themselves.

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

CB: This is a hard one! To narrow it down to two is difficult so I’ll stick with people in the improv world. One is Rebecca Northan (obviously). We’ve been best friends for over 20 years. We trained together at the Loose Moose Theatre in Calgary and we fought side by side for better treatment of female improvisers (these were the days when a fellow improviser would think it was ‘funny’ to stick their tongues down your throat in a scene….but that’s a whole other story). She came up with the concept of Blind Date, Legend Has It, and our new Spontaneous Theatre show, Undercover. She’s strong, creative, and goes out and gets what she wants! The second is Colin Mochrie. Everyone knows how funny he is, but he is also one of the most generous improvisers out there. I’ve worked with well know improvisers and actors quite a bit and Colin is always the best! He is a great example of someone who supports his fellow improvisers. He’s a busy guy, but if he’s in town, he’s always game to play!

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

CB: That’s hard to say because I started improvising at 16. For me, when I go through periods of no work I can get quite depressed. When the creative energy doesn’t get released, it turns into something very heavy. I know a lot of people that suffer the same issue. So it’s important for me to keep active, release that creative energy. It makes me a lot happier!

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

CB: I thinks it’s continually finding projects that satisfy my creativity. It’s a hard business. I’ve been so lucky to find amazing people to work with and collaborate with though.

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

CB: That would be joining the Loose Moose Theatre at 16. I was (and am) a pretty shy person. The Moose was a place where I felt accepted and part of a group. We use to call it the “Land of Misfit Toys” because we all felt slightly awkward in the real world. Keith Johnstone taught me not only the basics of improv and gave us all a place to hone our skills on stage in front of an audience (failing in front of 150 each night sure helps you learn fast), but he also taught us to Fail Forward. It’s something I still wholly believe in. It’s one of those lessons everybody needs to embrace. Failing is the best way to learn. Fail, fall down, get back up, learn, move forward.

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

CB: That it’s a lot of work!

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

CB: It was really the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do. I’ve spent a lot of hours trying to find something else that I could be as passionate about because sometimes this industry hits you a little too hard. But I have yet to find something that gives me so much back. I’m a true believer in following your passion.

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

CB: To tell you the truth, I can’t think of anything! I enjoy just following the path life lays out in front of me! Although, I spent some time in Berlin this summer. I would love to work and live there for a year or two!

JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?

CB: One of the honours of doing Blind Date is meeting so many amazing people. Sometimes the show really has a huge impact on them. I’ve had ‘dates’ go through the show and get a renewed energy to do things they’ve put off, or didn’t think they could do. One guy booked a trip and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. One went back to the country he was born in and spent a few months exploring. One started acting!! And one spoke publicly about his PTSD caused by his active duty in Afghanistan for the first time. For me, it are these kinds of achievements that mean so much. Having a positive effect on another human being!

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

CB: It’s going to be hard. You’re going to want to quite. You will fail. You will succeed. Then you will fail again. Never stop learning. If the passion is there, keep going.

JS: Of what value are critics?

CB: Oh man…..I think art is subjective. But if you have someone who can look at the work from an intellectual eye and really ‘critic’ the work on what it is trying to do then great! Some theatre’s tickets are expensive, so people don’t want to go in blind. But we’ve all seen two completely different reviews for the same show. One person may hate it while another loves it. That’s art…and food….and experiences…and clothes….etc. As an actor, you have to be very careful with critics. If they love you, take it with a grain of salt. If they hate you, do the same. I’ve had both. The hate hurts, and sometimes the words seem more personal then a criticism of skill. That being said, I’m the one that put myself on the stage!

JS: What do you ask of your audience?

CB: Have a drink before the show. Turn your phones off.

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

CB: The fear and hate….which comes from fear. I’m so tired of hearing people generalizing a whole group of people because of their religion or hometown or sexual preference. It’s all bulls*t.

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

CB: I spent a few months on Broadway as Kim Cattrall’s understudy. I was excited but stressed. I’d love to go back and really take it all in a bit more calmly.

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

CB: I honestly don’t feel like a figure in the media. I feel like a person who is lucky enough to do some shows!

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

CB: Well, I already mentioned Berlin! I absolutely loved it there! The energy of the city was amazing and the culture is fantastic. I’d love to go to Amsterdam. I’m a huge Van Gogh fan, so to see more of his art would be so fantastic. There’s also a great improv scene there.

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

CB: We are working on a new Spontaneous Theatre show called Undercover. We get an audience member and make them the new detective there to solve a murder. We’ve only had a week of workshops so far and start to really get down to it in January. I’m always excited to do challenging things, and figuring out how to make the show work and showcase the audience member is a fantastic challenge. Why should it matter to you? Well, it will be fun, and funny, and you’ll get to meet a person and learn a little bit about them to take away with you. If that sounds like something you’d like, come see it! If not, come see it anyway, you never know!

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PETER TOGNI: COMPOSER, BROADCASTER, MUSICIAN, AND CREATOR OF THE DISCREETLY PENETRATING AND POTENT NEW CD “HYMNS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH” -A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on October 12, 2016 by strecker

JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, what would you say?

PETER TOGNI: I am a composer, organist, pianist, improviser, conductor and broadcaster. I express my love for humanity, my life and my Roman Catholic faith though these mediums. I am constantly looking for new ways to express this.

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

PT: The encounter with the divine is a part of what makes us human. Being touched by God is what is at the centre of music itself.

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

PT: I admire Igor Stravinsky, the constant question in his music and his craft, the technique that underscored his quest for things new. He was very open about his borrowing of material from other composers. Of Mozart he said “I steal because I love it” I also admire the American composer Harry Partch. He had a tremendous sense of self and wrote only the music he wanted to hear. He rejected European tradition and invented many of his own instruments, such as the Chromelodeon, an instrument that played his use of a 43 note scale. He was a brave man living from his music, often living a life of a hobo. His independence was of upmost importance.

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

PT: My way of beginning a new project is now somewhat different than even the way I worked ten years ago. I am no longer waiting for the “big inspiration” A new work can come from just two notes or a visual idea or one chord accidentally played on my piano. The smallest light of inspiration can be all it takes. Perhaps this is because I am lot busier than I was and don’t have the time to mull things over for too long!

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

PT: The biggest challenge for me is to find the right kind of inner silence that one needs to go deep.

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

PT: A major turning point in my life was when I was twenty two and living in Paris. I was studying organ and improvisation with Jean Langlais. It was through my studies with him in improvisation that I began to find my voice as a composer.

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

PT: The hardest thing for many people in North American to understand is why I do it all, devoting oneself to classical composition is not the easiest way to put bread on the table and the audience is quite small. It’s hard to explain one’s love for this. It’s rather like trying to explain why one has fallen in love with someone?

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

PT: I started to do creative work when I was six or seven as I never played exactly what was one the page in my piano lessons. I was always adding things or embellishing, often not practicing. My teachers were sometimes exasperated with me, but I really just wanted to play my own stuff!

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

PT: I have not yet attempted to write a setting of the Passion of Christ. I still don’t know if I’m ready to take that on but I feel it is going to happen someday. I still think it is the strongest story of sacrifice, surrender and the ultimate love and even if one is an atheist this event can be understood as all of us suffer every day and all want to be happy, it is the human condition.

JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?

PT: My most meaningful achievement as a composer so far is the creation of my Lamentations of Jeremiah, a concerto for bass clarinet and choir. I wrote this work for my dear friend Jeff Reilly and it was recorded by Jeff and the Elmer Isler Singers for the German label ECM.

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

PT: The best advice I would give to a young composer would be not to worry about originality, that comes with time and lots of listening!

JS: Of what value are critics?

PT: Although critics often gets things wrong, certainly with respect to new pieces of music, there is usually something in the review which can be true and that can help you think about what you are doing. It is also a good way of keeping the enormous egos we artists have in check!

JS: What do you ask of your audience?

PT: What I ask of the audience is nothing! The music will speak to them or not. It is presented and hopefully they can hear what I hear.

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

PT: I would hope that people would find some time of silence, even a few minutes a day. We live in such a culture of constant interruption, it could ultimately destroy us!

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

PT: There is nothing in my creative life that I would like to relive. I try not to either look back or be attached to an outcome.

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

PT: Being a figure in the media has mostly been a very rewarding experience, particularly from my days as a broadcaster on the CBC, (people don’t generally come up to composers and ask them anything these days, except for spare change) I am very moved when someone tells me how much my radio show meant to them and how they felt they really knew me. Radio is a one to one medium and most people that listen in are as broken as I am.

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

PT: I would very much like to return to St Petersburg Russia. I was so moved the beauty of this place, a strange beauty at times, certainly a difficult history. I performed in the Shostakovitch Hall with my trio Sanctuary. It was almost too much to take in as Tchaikovsky’s Symphony number 6 was premiered there as was the 7th symphony of Shostakovich. I would love to go back and hear a concert there and visit many of the churches and the Winter Palace. I would absolutely love to visit Shetland or the Shetlands Islands as they are sometimes called. This is a part of Scotland that has a mystical and bleak beauty. The weather there is perfect for me as it rains a lot which I love and the average temperature is 12.3 degrees, also perfect for me as I do not enjoy summer heat or summers that much. In fact I find too much sunshine actually depressing!

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?

PT: My opera Isis and Osiris was premiered in Toronto this past April. It is the great Egyptian love story and the story of love over power. I would love people to hear this, as many aspects of my compositional world are there, in particular my fascination with ancient themes mixed with a romantic sweep. I am writing a new concerto for bass clarinet and orchestra for Jeff Reilly and I am reworking a concerto I wrote for percussionist Jerry Granelli (he was the drummer in the Vince Guraldi Trio) titled Warrior Songs – it is a concerto for percussion and choir. Next year I will record a CD of my music with the American cellist Jeffery Ziegler in New York. I plan to begin work on a setting of the Stabat Mater for the Canadian soprano Suzie Leblanc.

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LAUREN SEGAL: AN “ALLURING DARK-PLUM MEZZO” BRINGS FAVORITE ROLE CARMEN TO HAMILTON PHILHARMONIC ON OCTOBER 15: A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on October 4, 2016 by strecker

JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, what would you say?

LAUREN SEGAL: An opera singer sings works that have been created over many centuries to entertain, move and inspire audiences through dramatic story-telling. A mezzo-soprano is a particular voice type that adds to a performance with its unique range and rich vocal colour.

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

LS: I believe in the goodness of humanity – in the common goals of all for happiness and love. I strive to bring out these characteristics in all of the characters that I portray.

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

LS: the wonderful mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig for inspiring me with her power of vocal expression and Nelson Mandela for changing the nation of my birth in such a dignified and peaceful manner.

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

LS: I suppose that over the years, I have become more organized with role preparation and been more active in the business side of my career.

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

LS: Avoiding pesky bugs in order to stay healthy!

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

LS: One major turning point in my life was when I was completing my Master’s Degree in physics and I needed to make a decision on whether I was going to continue in that field or pursue my love of singing. Singing won out – and while it was a tough decision, I had the crucial support of my family, friends and teacher which made the decision a lot easier.

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

LS: Perhaps it would be how much care we need to take care of ourselves – and how important rest is to our ability to do our job to the best of our abilities.

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

LS: Ever since I was small, I loved to sing, act and create. I don’t think there was one particular beginning – rather it’s always been a natural part of who I am.

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

LS: I would love to perform the role of Dalila from Samson and Dalila. It is a role that one grows into – and it is something I am striving for as its music is glorious and moves me each and every time I hear it.

JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?

LS: In respect to my career – performing the role of Carmen has always held a lot of meaning for me as it is one of my favourite roles and one that I have grown with over the years.

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

LS: This career has many wonderful moments, but it certainly has its challenges as well. If you can think of one other career that you’d be happy pursuing, take it! If you really feel that music is your field, then my main advice is to make sure to find a great teacher. There are many great teachers, but not all teachers and students work well together – you need to find the best teacher for you. It makes the world of difference.

JS: Of what value are critics?

LS: Although, as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, having critics who dissect and critique what we do can add credibility to our work.

JS: What do you ask of your audience?

LS: The only thing I ask of my audience is to arrive with an open mind and to be willing to go where ever the performance takes them.

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

LS: There is so much good in the world – if we all concentrated on the good, on what we are so fortunate to have, and treated those around us in the same manner in which we wished to be treated, then perhaps the world would be a more peaceful place.

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

LS: I think it would be a summer I spent at the Banff Art’s Center in the Opera as Theatre program. The program was headed by the amazing director Glynis Leyshon who encouraged our creative expressions to thrive in an environment she had created that was safe, nurturing and inspirational. It was a magical time.

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

LS: Honestly, I don’t think about it too often. I just do my best to be true to who I am whenever I am in the public eye.

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?

LS: I’d love to go to Hawaii, New Zealand, and to revisit the Rockies. I love water and mountains, and all three places have plenty of both.

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?

LS: I am currently preparing to sing Charlotte in Werther for a production with Manitoba Opera next spring. It’s a dream role of mine and I feel very fortunate to be able to delve into it. The music is glorious, and I hope that the audience will enjoy it as much I will!

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JOANN FALLETTA: MUSIC DIRECTOR OF THE BUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA AND THE VIRGINIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND AT THE FOREFRONT OF WOMEN CONDUCTORS IN THE CHANGING WORLD OF CLASSICAL MUSIC – A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on September 28, 2016 by strecker

JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, what would you say?

JOANN FALLETTA: As a conductor, I am a catalyst who energizes and enables the superb team of the orchestra. I establish a landscape where excellence can flourish. I must find the perfect synthesis of leading 100 musicians and allowing them to be free at the same time.

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

JF: In my work, I express my belief in the people around me- in their talent, their dedication, their excellence. I also celebrate and honor the extraordinary legacy of the music we play together- one of the greatest expressions of human creativity of all time.

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

JF: I am increasingly fascinated by the fluidity, the endless possibility in the pieces we play, and I am determined to let the result be informed by the unique personality of the orchestra. Each orchestra has a distinct character, sound, and way of making music, and allowing the musicians to imprint that uniqueness on each performance and recording is much more interesting to me than imposing a rigid interpretation.

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

JF: My greatest challenge- in a large group like an orchestra- is finding a way to help every person feel intensely valued individually.

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

JF: When I was appointed music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, I felt that it was a major turning point for me. I inherited an orchestra with both a glowing artistic legacy and a troubled financial situation. The responsibility I felt to the musicians and the community was enormous, and it helped me develop as both a musician and an artistic leader.

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

JF: The hardest thing for an outsider to understand about what I do is how the musicians and I communicate with each other. Many times people ask me questions like “are the musicians really able to watch you?” Or “after the week of rehearsals, does the orchestra still need the conductor to be on stage?” It would be astonishing for them if they could realize the intense wordless communication between conductor and musician- expressed through gesture, eye contact, body language, facial expression and baton technique.

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

JF: I have felt like a musician since I was seven years old and began to play classical guitar. There was not really a conscious choice for me- at some point I simply realized that music was who I was.

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

JF: I continue to try to introduce our listeners to music they might not know- either from the past or contemporary music. I like to “open a window for them”, to help them make discoveries that will interest and delight them. But I always incorporate these new journeys into programs of composers that they know and already love. So it is a process that continues….there are many new pieces that I look forward to performing for them!

JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?

JF: Being a music director and helping the community to know, to value, and to love the orchestra more each season.

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

JF: To be prepared for a journey of hard work, complete dedication, many disappointments, countless surprises, and ultimately a life spent in the midst of the greatest beauty imaginable. To paraphrase one of my heroes, Leonard Bernstein: “the musician gives away his energies and his life just to make sure that one note follows another inevitably”. That has been the great privilege of my life.

JS: Of what value are critics?

JF: Critics are very valuable for the performing artist. They put our work in context. They can see the forest, while we are often concentrating on each tree and every leaf. They force us to step back and see and hear through the audience’s eyes and ears. I have learned a great deal from reviewers and critics who have taken the time to truly listen to us.

JS: What do you ask of your audience?

JF: The best audience is one who is open-minded, who is willing to let go and surrender themselves to the experience of listening, who does not worry about “knowing about the music” but is able to simply relax and “cross the bridge” to an island of tranquility in the midst of a very hectic life. I believe that each audience member feels very different- emotionally and physically- after sitting in the middle of music for two hours. Something changes inside each one of us- impossible to explain, but very real nonetheless. We often lose a sense of humanity in the everyday difficulties of life- and can find that humanity again, wordlessly, in a concert hall.

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

JF: Every child would be given the chance to hear and- most importantly- play music from the earliest possible age. Music and art education would be a priority in every level of education. I really believe that people who come to know and treasure music are the most open, most inclusive, compassionate human beings. The very ambiguity of music is part of its beauty- and an appreciation of that ambiguity can foster a true understanding of others, and an acceptance of difference.

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

JF: I would like to go back to my seventh birthday and take my first guitar lesson with Mr. Cavadias again.

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

JF: While I am really a shy person, I love the opportunity to talk about music. I want everyone to know that our music-making is for them, that the orchestra belongs to them. If I can open the door to the concert hall for them through a media presence, I am very happy.

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.

JF: Here is a list of projects I am particularly excited about:
-Tchaikovsky Festival in Buffalo
-Celebrating the 100th birthday of the school where I received my bachelor’s degree, the Mannes College of Music, in a concert at Lincoln Center
-Conducting debut in Finland
-Recordings of the music of Kodaly and of Wagner (orchestral music of The Ring) for Naxos
-Concert celebrating 150 years of friendship with Canada
-My first ever performance of the Berlioz Requiem with the Virginia Symphony
-Concerts with Itzhak Perlman
-Two world premieres written for us by Rob Deemer and Kenneth Fuchs
-Conducting debut with the Berlin Radio Orchestra

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AMBUR BRAID, SOPRANO: DALINDA IN HANDEL’S ARIODANTE FROM OCTOBER 16 AND QUEEN OF THE NIGHT IN MOZART’S THE MAGIC FLUTE FROM JANUARY 19, BOTH AT THE CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY – A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on September 26, 2016 by strecker

JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, what would you say?

AMBUR BRAID: Ambur Braid, Torontonian, Humanitarian, Dinner Party Enthusiast, Sommelier, Painter, Therapist, Opera Singer.

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

AB: I just try to embody a role and communicate an intention.

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

AB: David Bowie has always been my hero. His looks, his values, his inspirations. He’s just my favourite. I also admire Leonard Bernstein. Nobody has ever been able to conduct with their eyebrows quite like he could.

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

AB: As a horribly shy and gangly child, I wasn’t awesome at a lot of things. When I first started working in the arts I felt like I belonged there. It was a natural fit and I’m so pleased that my parents saw that I needed that outlet and that they nurtured it so much.

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

AB: Being too sensitive.

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

AB: Moving to Athens to live and work with Marina Krilovici. We did things the old school way (two lessons a day) and worked on new, bigger repertoire for my voice.

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

AB: That it’s not a hobby, it’s a calling.

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

AB: It’s what I’m meant to do. I’ve tried to run from it and it always pulls me back in.

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

AB: I’ve never been confident or content with my work, so it would be nice to do something that I can be proud of!
Next season will be the first one where I am singing roles that actually “fit” my voice – the bigger Verdi and Donizetti. I’ve been waiting my whole singing life for this!

JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?

AB: Happy dinner guests.

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

AB: Just do you.

JS: Of what value are critics?

AB: Educating potential audience members is always a good thing.

JS: What do you ask of your audience?

AB: Turn your phone off and be present. Please. Even at intermission. Live-tweeting is my nemesis.

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

AB: SO much. Let’s have a glass of wine and discuss homelessness, race and equality some time.

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

AB: This isn’t really a business that condones reminiscing. Sure, there were some great moments, but the stakes are getting higher and things are getting more and more exciting for each contract.

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

AB: Being a figure in the media has only made me more reclusive, in a way. I’m not the type of person who strategizes how I would like people to perceive me, so I would rather just spend time with my family and friends and be the weirdo that I am.

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

AB: I do believe that it is time to return to Sicily! What a gorgeous place. Anywhere that has fabulous wine, food and beaches is ideal. Crete is on my hit list this year as well. I’ve spent a lot of time in Athens over the past three years, but have not seen most of the islands.

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
.
AB: Learning Tosca and doing a world premiere of a Canadian work in the Spring about sex slavery. My parents will be so proud.
These matter to me because it’s important to challenge yourself and push the boundaries of what you think capable, in this case, singing about a relevant subject matter accompanied by challenging music, in Ukrainian!

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RECENT PLEASURES: A REVIEWER’S NOTES ON ELISABETH LOUISE VIGEE LE BRUN, PETER TOGNI WITH STACIE DUNLOP, AND THE DEPARTING JACKIE MAXWELL OF THE SHAW FESTIVAL –THANK YOU, JACKIE!

Posted on September 23, 2016 by strecker

PLEASURE 1: Several years ago I was walking through London’s National Gallery on the way to view The Adoration of the Shepherds from about 1640 by the Le Nain Brothers. Was this profoundly gentle painting more the work of Antoine? Louis? Mathieu? -no one can say. But as one tends to do in a major art institution, while seeking out a cherished painting, I made a new discovery during my stroll. This was the Self Portrait in a Straw Hat, from some date after 1782, by an artist then unknown to me -Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun.

After I noted an obvious similarity to a Rubens painting known as the Portrait of Susanna Lunden, one also called Le Chapeau de Paille although this hat is not made of straw, two things struck me immediately. First of all, these were the most kissable lips I had encountered in a painting in many a day. When I later made this declaration to the bookstore staff, the several ladies seemed amused and a tad suspicious. Did they later send security to check the painting for my lip marks? –I don’t know. But the sensuality in this painting was delicious.

My other realization was this: for all its mystery and elegance, The Vigee Le Brun self-portrait gave a subtle but firm challenge to the viewer. The subject –the artist, rather- not only looked back at this viewer, but did so with –I think it’s how Sartre put it- a penetrating gaze. This was a decidedly female gaze that, whatever its circumstances, stood its ground. Such was the case in many a portrait on view at the National Gallery in Ottawa a few week ago. It was a travelling exhibition that originated in Paris and also visited the Met in New York, one of 90 or so works by Vigee Le Brun…

These are some notes I made during my visit to the Vigee Le Brun exhibition in Ottawa: “Many of these portraits stress the intriguing ambiguity of a female subject’s character. They don’t openly display their secrets but compel the viewer to find a personal means to understanding what lingers unspoken in their eyes. These are naturally seductive women who insist on reciprocated intimacy. They are assertively feminine, certainly not idealized abstractions but women who one senses do inhabit a live and breathe world.

One doesn’t reduce these women to impersonal academic study, but instead becomes committed to a relationship with each one. One feels obligated, as they seem to point the way, to be honest with oneself. Such portrait-making is memorable and, without question, among the best. We learn and grow from it. We see people more deeply.”

PLEASURE 2: Listening to Hymns of Heaven and Earth, one feels gripped ironically by Peter Togni’s compositional restraint. One also feels quietly out of breath from one’s involvement in music that is compelling and insistent, music that proves slyly challenging but always rich with surprises and intriguing to the ear. One feels involved. The music is both aesthetically solid, yet also seems an unfolding process that duplicates a thinking mind. If that sounds cerebral, the music is also passionate with poise, haunting and perhaps haunted, and one doesn’t hold back while listening to it. One gives in and one is musically rewarded.

Such it is with Hymns of Heaven and Earth and Solstice Nights, both instrumental works for string quartet, the latter with English horn added. The third and final work is Three Neruda Odes, taken from the great Chilean’s writer’s poetry, and Togni, bless his heart, achieves something that not all composers can. His music does not at all intrude on the writing or distort it, but rather enhances the intention and effect of the poet’s words, thus allowing us to discover and experience complimentary elements in both words and music combined.

Togni’s music is not only appropriate for Neruda’s words, but aesthetically rich on its own. A vibrating organic whole is thus achieved and in soprano Stacie Dunlop’s singing of the Odes, we experience a potent and unsettling clarity. Both Togni and Dunlop are fluent in their mastery of diverse musical devises and their emotional dimensions too, and both display an unshowy economy in what they do.

Dunlop’s growl in Ode to my Suit confronts the listener with concise passion, while not long after a firm step by step presence keeps the listener hanging uneasy and involved in her musical, metaphysical, and what seems also an autobiographical descent. Always the voice is rewarding in tonal diversity and narrative surprises, measured in passion and therefore more potent in feeling. Her singer’s palette is made of many musical colours, all delivered with honed artistic smarts.

PLEASURE 3: If you follow this blog, you’ll know that I’ve been reviewing the Shaw Festival here for seven years. Before that I reviewed the same Shaw Festival for several alternative press publications for over two decades. I certainly feel fortunate to have a festival of such deserved international stature just over an hour from my home.

I feel equally fortunate that in my many years of attendance at the Shaw we have had three long-standing artistic directors, each of whom I was/am at the time sad to lose. Christopher Newton followed Paxton Whitehead (how dare he!) and Jackie Maxwell followed Christopher Newton (how dare she!) and with each of these uniquely impressive artistic directors the art of theatre established deeper world-class roots in the Niagara Peninsula. And with an M. A. in Drama I was now able to actually see performed many of the plays I had only read and wondered about as works for the stage.

Well, the time has come for Jackie Maxwell’s departure and of course I feel saddened at losing her, for so many reasons. Hers was a Festival of imaginative and inspiring commitment to theatre, one of surprising and ultimately revelatory programming that gave the theatrical riches of the past a relevant but unforced present tense. We became happily more aware the potent female voice and wealth of female talent, in both dramatic art and its production, available in Canada. We watched a major theatrical company of already high standards realize even more of its potential. We became more aware of theatre as a voice of diverse societies as they addressed their deepest human values.

Under Jackie Maxwell, the Shaw Festival, deceptively comfy as it appears, stood as a defiant antidote to the superficiality of popular culture, one that would herd us into a manipulated now with no past or future. We watched careers begin and blossom in her nurturing casting, we were forced in criticizing productions of her festival to declare and evaluate what it is we ourselves stood up for, we felt the hot vibes (yes, in a festival with Shaw’s name to it) of artistic creation in action around us. We indeed felt the celebration of art each year, one that faced the world’s torments with higher aspirations always in hand.

Many times I went home after a production at the Shaw Festival thinking, “I wouldn’t have known about that play, even that playwright, if this piece hadn’t been part of the programming this year.” Several years ago I interviewed playwright Edward Bond, whose work The Sea was then on view at the Shaw in an outstanding production, and I still mull over Edward’s essentially challenging words about theatre selling out in order to only entertain and not really confront its audience. Given that the Shaw Festival has to sell tickets to survive, Maxwell repeatedly had the guts to program gems, little known locally, that made us take stalk of ourselves and the spiritual flab that shields us from our social responsibilities. Maxwell’s risks were often memorable and I feel very lucky to have been given the chance to see them.

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PETER OUNDJIAN: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE CONDUCTOR AND MUSIC DIRECTOR OF THE TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA WHO OPENS THE TSO SEASON WITH SOPRANO RENEE FLEMING ON SEPTEMBER 21: A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on September 18, 2016 by strecker

JAMES STRECKER: 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?

PETER OUNDJIAN: Right now I’m getting ready for the opening weeks of the Toronto Symphony – specifically studying Mahler 3. It’s truly an epic work, the longest symphony in what we might call the standard repertoire. Even more importantly, it centres around arguably the most important subject that a composer can take on – creation. It demands every imaginable aspect of any musician’s palette that he/she could possibly conjure. Preparing to put that symphony together is a project in itself. Also including solo voice, women’s chorus, children’s chorus, offstage instruments, etc. – it has aspects of preparing an operatic performance as well.

This spring, I will be recording John Adams’ Naïve and Sentimental Music and Absolute Jest with the RSNO. This will be our second recording of his music. John Adams, who has become a good friend through his frequent appearances in Toronto and because of my passion for his compositions, has written several works that we might justifiably call contemporary masterpieces. Naïve and Sentimental Music certainly belongs in that category. I’m excited to have this opportunity to interpret John’s music once again for posterity.

JS: If you were asked for 50 words, for an encyclopedia, to summarize what you do, what would you say?

PO: Being a Music Director requires such a broad range of skills and roles – everything from a policeman, administrator, motivator, organizer, visionary planner, and fundraiser – not to mention an impeccable musicianship that hopefully demands respect, and an incredible memory and dedication to score study. Finally, sensitivity and the ability to run efficient and stimulating rehearsals.

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

PO: The value of art to humanity.

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

PO: Beethoven. He has taught me courage, profound sensitivity, and hope even in times of great challenges. Itzhak Perlman. I learned from him that adversity does not equal self-pity. One has to focus on the positives in life.

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

PO: After about 50 years of getting up on a stage and trying to create something through music, it’s almost impossible to completely understand every reference point because so much of it becomes innate. There are so many layers of experience that support creative endeavours.

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

PO: To accept that you will never achieve all of your expectations.

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

PO: Having to stop playing the violin because of control problems in my left hand, which forced me to experience that cliché – when one door closes, another door opens.

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

PO: Simply put – does the orchestra really need you? In other words, it’s difficult for someone to understand what a conductor does with his body that truly establishes the sound and interpretation.

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

PO: I couldn’t make it as a soccer player!

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

PO: I haven’t yet made enough of an impact for my own satisfaction on the vast number of people to whom classical music is a mystery and elitist sport. I would love to make an impact that compares to even a fraction of what Leonard Bernstein achieved in this area.

JS: What are your favorite achievements?

PO: Performing the Beethoven quartet cycle with the Tokyo String Quartet around the world in famed concert halls in Milan, Vienna, and New York will always remain high on that list for me. Also, these many years I have spent trying to enhance the experience the Toronto Symphony provides to our community and beyond have been especially rewarding.

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

PO: In order to be a successful conductor, you must first be a great musician.

JS: Of what value are critics?

PO: Obviously, it depends on the critic. Critics can stimulate and inspire a deeper interest in our art form, and can make insightful observations. That is not always the case. In order to be a successful critic, one should also be a great musician.

JS: How does your work make life more meaningful for you and for others?

PO: Art is about sensitivity, compassion, and so many intangibles that are not apparent to us in our everyday lives. It encourages sensitivity and a deeper understanding of, and compassion for, the human condition.

JS: What do you ask of your audience?

PO: Concentration and openness.

JS: What’s upcoming for you as a creative person, why do these projects matter to you, and why will they be important to us?

PO: The upcoming Decades Project at the TSO. This season highlights the third and fourth decades of the 20th century, and gives us an opportunity to witness different musical languages that were achieved at each stage of that extraordinary century

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

PO: I would have every politician wear a bracelet that gave them an unpleasant electric shock every time they lied.

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STACIE DUNLOP: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE SOPRANO OF “CUTTING EDGE CONTEMPORARY CREATIONS” IN CLASSCAL MUSIC: A REVIEWER’S INTERVIEW WITH PEOPLE IN THE ARTS

Posted on September 12, 2016 by strecker

JAMES STRECKER: If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, what would you say?

STACIE DUNLOP: Stacie Dunlop is a passionate performer of new music, producer of cutting edge contemporary creations and an avid commissioner of contemporary classical repertoire. Her powerful, agile voice allows her access to explore works from Handel through Schoenberg and into the exciting and boundary pushing music of today’s classical composers.

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

SD: That I must put 100% of myself into everything I do…and when I perform, I never hold back…I give it my all.

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

SD: Arnold Schoenberg: he wrote the most amazing music and lived an incredible life…I wish I could have been able to bring his music to life while he was still alive.

My Grandmother: she was my best friend and the most generous person I’ve ever known. She always supported me, and there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about her. I wouldn’t be where I am right now were it not for her love and support, both emotionally and financially over my entire life, but especially from when I was a teenager up until her death in 2010.

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

SD: I think that the best way to answer this question is to say that when I’m not doing creative work, I tend to lose a sense of myself, so, in fact, when I live my life fully in a way that is truly connected to my creativity, I am not changed…but rather I am the essence of myself, fully and completely.

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

SD: Being bound by financial restraints…I never let that stop me, but it sure would be a heck of a lot easier if I had financial flexibility for myself and my projects.

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

SD: Leaving my marriage in 2012 and going straight into a 20-week long-term creative residency at The Banff Centre, followed by my move back to Toronto directly afterwards in 2013…that was a pretty incredible way to transition into the fully immersed creative life I have embraced ever since I made that decision.

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

SD: The fact that I don’t “have a job”…People who are unfamiliar with an artist’s way of life find it difficult to comprehend how being out at rehearsals and meetings or staying home and practicing, writing grants, emails and applications, qualifies as work.

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

SD: I’ve been singing since childhood, and began producing my own projects shortly after I started my professional career…because I have to…I need to sing and I have at least a half dozen projects in my head at all times…I have to be a creative being…I don’t know why, but I do know that without creative work, I would shrivel up inside.

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

SD: Hmmm…hanging off an aerial trapeze in a performance…another way to push past traditional boundaries. The exciting thing is that this dream is being realized this year, when I perform John Cage’s iconic work Aria in collaboration with aerialists Angola Murdock and Holly Treddenick for Balancing on the Edge at the Harbourfront Centre in November.

JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?

SD: Last season I was the understudy for the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Robert LePage’s Erwartung. Of course I would have loved to have performed it, but just the step of being the understudy for that role was a huge achievement, especially since I was inspired to learn that role when I first saw the original production of it at the COC in 1993. It was really my first foray into contemporary operatic music and I know I was transformed as a creative being after experiencing that performance.

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

SD: Think long and hard before deciding to take this career path…and then if you can live your life without being an artist as a career…do something else…this is not an easy road to venture on.

JS: Of what value are critics?

SD: I think it’s important to get an objective opinion of one’s work. If the review is not favourable, that can be difficult to cope with but it’s vital to hear another’s viewpoint. Of course, if the review is positive, then it helps us with our fragile egos and if well written, a nice addition to add to our press package.

JS: What do you ask of your audience?

SD: To be open to the experience…that’s all…come with an open mind and heart…and if we as performers are able to move them…that’s the best possible outcome.

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

SD: That the power hungry greed could end and that the money being channelled into the military be redirected into the arts…a simple solution to help support creativity and peace, don’t you think?

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

SD: I’ve had a couple of really beautiful moments while performing R. Murray Schafer’s Princess of the Stars and The Enchanted Forest…I don’t know if they could ever be relived, but they are definitely moments I cherish and appreciate deeply. There is something soulfully connected with Murray’s environmental performances, and they are moments that can’t be duplicated…I haven’t really answered this question, but this is as close as I can get.

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

SD: You can be held accountable in a very public way for your actions, so I think you have to remember to be respectful of how you address issues on a public platform. It’s also important to be humble and show your support when it is required, but at the same time to maintain a certain amount of privacy on a daily basis. Social media is today’s reality, so I try to be smart about the way I choose to share personal information and generally use the media for professional promotional purposes rather than a personal platform.

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

SD: India: I am also a yoga teacher and would like to complete my advanced yoga teacher training at one of the Sivananda Ashram’s in India….some day.

France: I went on a short trip to the Champagne Region in 2000…and want to go back, because it is a beautiful place and I adore champagne. I think I see this happening in the very near future.

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?

SD: My most recent CD, Hymns of Heaven and Earth, was a very special project for me. I commissioned Peter-Anthony Togni to compose Three Neruda Odes for me, which was to date one of the best collaborations I’ve had with a composer…and this CD was a dream to work on (well, sometimes a nightmare, but that was in the initial stages before the actual recording)…fantastic producer, amazing musicians…and incredible support from the community from the get go. This CD should matter to the world because it is stunningly beautiful music, played with passion and excellence.

My next project, or rather, the project I’ve been immersed in since its inception 4 years ago, is an opera commission. Composer Aaron Gervais and librettist Paul van Dyck have created a companion piece to a new chamber version of Schoenberg’s Erwartung (also arranged by Gervais) called The Harvester. We had our first piano/vocal workshop of The Harvester in January of this year and are having a second workshop in January 2017 of both The Harvester and Erwartung, which will also include 10 instrumentalists. This has been a massive undertaking and I’m lucky to be in partnership with Kevin Mallon/Aradia Ensemble, have musical partnership with Montreal’s Ensemble Paramirabo, visuals created by the multi-talented Catherine Thompson and to have had the public support of the Canada Council, SOCAN and the Ontario Arts Council, along with some incredible private sponsorship for both the commission of The Harvester and the workshops.

This project matters to me because my connection to Erwartung is deep…I am soulfully entwined to this work…and I believe that The Harvester is great theatre that has been brought to life on a new level by being reimagined as an opera. This project should matter to the world because this work is edgy, thought provoking, music-theatre…it is opera, new, bold and exciting…it has already been well received in the initial workshop phase and when it reaches full production I think the whole world will love it.

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