This week Massey Hall was in the headlines with the exciting news of the revitalization of the Theatre Block, the block on Yonge Street, north of Queen that includes Massey Hall and the Elgin Winter Garden Theatre. Toronto developer MOD Developments Inc. announced on Monday the purchase of 197-201 Yonge Street, a 20,000 square foot parcel of land that includes the historically designated CIBC bank building. The land, which has been owned by Parasuco Jeans of Montreal since the early nineties, extends to Victoria Street and MOD Developments will be generously donating to Massey Hall the portion directly south of Massey, from the backstage area to the back of the Elgin Winter Garden Theatre.

What this gift of additional land permits us to do is now expand Massey Hall, a project we have been working on for years. Numerous studies have been done: planning, architectural, heritage, mechanical — all with the objective of improving operational efficiencies, patron and artists amenities. But until now we were unable to proceed due to the limitations of our existing property.

The “Grand Old Lady of Shuter Street” was built in 1894, a time when the current day’s uses could not have been foreseen. The concert hall, which hosts over 100 public events each year in its 2,753 seat auditorium, has been renovated on several occasions throughout its history.  Extensive alterations last took place in 1933 reducing the number of seats from 3500 to 2,753. In 1948, several operational renovations were undertaken rebuilding the stage and adding an annex to the backstage. In the last 60 years, there have been no significant architectural improvements.

With the addition of property behind the Hall, we are now looking forward to addressing the modern day needs of Massey Hall, while protecting the Hall’s concert intimacy so beloved by artists and patrons. We will be sharing news with you about the project as our planning unfolds. Stay tuned!

Heather Clark is Director of Marketing and Development at Massey Hall & Roy Thomson Hall

There is no doubt that more than ever, we have reason to voice support of the arts in Canada. It’s inspiring to see so many come together to share their appreciation and love of the arts in Toronto and we are fortunate to have so many opportunities to do so. We’re a city heaping with talent and creativity and collaboration and we’re honoured to be a home to some of what Toronto offers, as host and as a gathering place for people to share, discover, and enjoy cultural events.

Culture Days, now in its 2nd year, is a national initiative featuring numerous free, interactive activities that bring the public “behind the scenes,” to discover the world of artists and creators (+ more), at work in our community.

Tomorrow (Saturday), we are thrilled to co-host, along with the great Toronto Symphony Orchestra, a unique opportunity for the whole family to come to Roy Thomson Hall, curl up under the glow of our lobby windows and hear from the TSO’s Woodwind Quintet as they introduce the sounds and individual instruments of the woodwind family and perform music by some of the most beloved classical composers in this intimate setting.

To paraphrase the words of musical ambassador Bobby McFerrin, music is an international language that allows us all to speak and understand each other. Culture Days is a way for all Canadians to experience and participate in cultural activities together and we are thrilled to be a part of it.

Roy Thomson Hall
Saturday, October 1, 2011
11:00am – 11:45am and
1:00pm – 1:45pm

Stephen McGrath is Soundboard Editor and Media Relations Manager at Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3jo_P98ePs

Roy Thomson Hall was honoured this weekend to have hosted the State Funeral for The Honourable Jack Layton. News outlets across the country have done a fine job of covering the service and, as you know, you can find hundreds of articles online about the events of the last week surrounding his death. We draw your attention to a few links in particular from the music community:

- In addition to performing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” at the service this weekend, Steven Page also paid tribute to Jack Layton in a statement on his website.

- Past Roy Thomson Hall Award recipient, Richard Underhill, who performed Into the Mystic at Saturday’s Celebration of Life, has a nice tribute on his website.

- Legendary music journalist Alan Cross, compiled a playlist from suggestions via Twitter and Facebook.

- Aux compiled online tributes from artists on Twitter.

- Additionally, Spinner offers a collection of tributes to Jack Layton from musicians here.

Massey Hall and I have a long mutual history and there are also memories of an appearance at its newer cousin, Roy Thomson Hall.

When I was growing up in Toronto, my mother sang in one of the best Canadian choirs of its time, The Jewish Folk Choir, with over 200 members. They performed to sold-out audiences in Massey Hall during the 1930s and 40s with me in attendance watching such guest artists as Jan Peerce and Paul Robeson perform with the choir. When I was age 11, 12 and 13, my sister and I were selected to be in a “May Spring Concert” presented by the Toronto Board of Education. We were the only representatives from our Clinton St. Public School. There I was on this wondrous huge stage in my starched white shirt and dark trousers with about 150 other students.

It was some 10 years later that I again appeared on the same stage as a member of The Travellers folk song group at a sold-out concert which we ended with our newly-written Canadianized version of Woody Guthrie’s THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND. We followed that by sharing the stage many times with Pete Seeger and Judy Collins and other folk artists. In the 1990s the Travellers appeared for the first time in Roy Thomson Hall, sharing the stage with The Kingston Trio. Again, as always, we closed our part of the show with This Land.

The song, written originally by Woody Guthrie, was banned from airplay by the 1950s infamous blacklist of songs and performers. Pete Seeger taught us the song as The Travellers were just forming in 1952, and suggested that we might rewrite the words using Canadian place names, in order to keep the song alive. The new words as written and performed by The Travellers on many TV shows and recordings in the 1950s and 60s, took Canada by storm, and many people embraced the song as a 2nd national anthem. It reinforced a new Canadian psyche of pan-Canadianism during the 1960s and we sang it before up to 250,000 people on Canada Day on Ottawa’s Parliament Hill in our many appearances there.

So with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir asking me to guest conduct their Choir and orchestra in the Canadian version of This Land, so close to our Canada Day, at Roy Thomson Hall, it is a perpetuation of the power of Woody’s song crossing the international borders with ease. Again the irony of this performance is that it will be followed by a full concert by The Travellers on Oct. 2, at the Markham Theatre in a musical salute to Woody Guthrie and his songs, on his 100th birth date. Members of Woody’s family will be present at the concert. Arlo once mused that perhaps his dad might have envisioned going from California to the New York Island the long way…through Canada? Hmm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaI5IRuS2aE

Jerry Gray is a co-founding member of The Travellers and will be guest conducting his iconic Canadian version of This Land is Your Land, during the Mormon Tabernacle Choirs highly anticipated performance at Roy Thomson Hall next Monday, June 27, 2011.

CBC Television’s Hana Gartner (pictured above in rehearsal) led the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir during their last visit to Roy Thomson Hall in 2007.

 The sensation of standing on the stage of a sold-out Roy Thomson Hall in front of the most magnificent choir in the world is unimaginable and indescribable. But I can tell you, it was one of the most extraordinarily powerful and unforgettable experiences of my life. It was June 2007. The world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir, one of the oldest and largest choirs in the world, was coming to Toronto on the first stop of a 13-day tour, their first performance outside the United States in nine years. Several months before their scheduled appearance, I received a phone call right out of the blue. It was an invitation to be guest conductor for the encore of their evening performance. I was floored and flattered. How can you possibly say no to an opportunity like this? I accepted most enthusiastically, but approached the responsibility with equal parts excitement and fear.

To tell you the truth, I was petrified – not because I’m shy, nor easily intimidated…not after almost four decades in broadcasting, 24 of them as co-host of CBC Television’s premier investigative programme, The Fifth Estate. During that time I’ve found myself in some very scary places, confronting some pretty intimidating types. I’ve been driven off at gun point, and told off by killers, crooks and cons…sometimes even politicians.

But nothing prepared me or scared me more than the expectation of conducting the 360 men and women of the venerable Mormon Tabernacle Choir, famous for their ability to lift the spirits of people of diverse cultures, ages and religions all over the world. This Grammy and Emmy Award-winning choir has sold millions of records, performed before presidents, and enthralled audiences in more than 28 different countries. This I found intimidating. Plus the fact the concert was sold out, filling Roy Thomson Hall to the rafters, a testament to the choir’s powerfully beautiful sound, their fame, and their 164-year history.

Choir Director Craig Jessop helps Hana Gartner get a feel for the baton.

And they asked me, Hana Gartner, to be guest conductor! I really was afraid I’d make a fool of myself. I’m not so modest as to say I don’t have talents. But musical ability is not one of them. I can’t even carry a tune, let alone The Mormon Tabernacle Choir! “Nothing to it,” Choir Director Craig Jessop told me at rehearsal, as he instructed me how to hold the baton. “All you have to do is stand in front of the choir for one song, the encore number ‘This Land Is Your Land.”’

To calm my obvious case of nerves, Jessop confided that really, all I was there to do was drop the baton so the choir can begin in unison. “After that, they don’t really need you.” Well, the night of the performance came. The concert was going brilliantly. The hall was a warm cocoon of heart-felt appreciation and good feeling. From the first stirring notes of our National Anthem, the audience devoured the musical feast, applauding enthusiastically, demanding more. This was the first time I had the privilege of hearing the choir in person. And what an experience that is. The sound these men and women create is not just music to the ears. You also hear it with your heart. It’s clear their power comes from passion; from faith as well as a love of singing. It’s also fuelled by commitment, discipline and training. And they put their money where their mouth is. While it’s sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS Church), the choir is completely self-funded, touring and producing albums to support the organization.

Their concert that night was spectacular and the performance was drawing to a close. Now it was time for the encore. As they made the announcement that I was going to conduct the choir for the final song of the night, I slowly made my way onto the stage and up the step to the podium. I may not have had a clue what I was doing there, but I sure looked the part. I had on my best “fake it until you make it” attitude, and a great looking tuxedo.

Armed with my conducting baton, I stood tall – as tall as five feet can take you. So there I was… 2,800 people behind me and 360 in front of me…waiting. I could feel the anticipation; feel my heart beating and hear the house settling. A hush fell over the hall as the audience and the choir waited…waited for me to drop the baton.

Wow. What a sense of power. I actually heard myself think: The Great Mormon Tabernacle Choir is not going to sing a note until I give the cue. 360 magnificent voices standing, waiting to begin what they could do so well without me, but not before I gave them the sign to start singing – 360 sets of eyeballs watching my hand, 360 vocal chords ready to hit that first note, the minute I give the signal.

Okay, so I can’t really explain what happened next. I didn’t expect it. I didn’t plan it. Guess the ham in me wanted to hog the moment. It wasn’t disrespect (although the reviewer the next day thought it was). No one was more moved by this experience than I. My hands were up, baton poised. Seconds ticked by. Anticipation… more seconds ticked by. SILENCE.

I look over my shoulder at the audience. Then… like some big involuntary belch I just could not suppress, this mischievous giggle rises up… Another pregnant pause…Luckily, the audience laughs, the baton drops and “This Land is Your Land” rocked the room. I didn’t conduct; I danced atop my precarious perch of a podium. What a night!

It was as if the whole of Roy Thomson Hall was locked together in one humungous group hug. What an exhilarating transformative experience! What a glorious standing ovation. What a privilege.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lucm6-W_j24

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square perform two shows at Roy Thomson Hall on Monday, June 27, 2011 at 2PM and 8PM

Guest contributor, Hana Gartner has enjoyed a distinguished career at CBC Television for 35 years.

The folks at Wonderword recently featured our Hall…

First person to send us the correct solution to the puzzle wins a prize! (we don’t exactly know what that prize is yet, but we’ll think of something worthwhile – we promise!)

Have fun!

Because we acknowledge the “How To Play” fine print is hard to read on this particlular image- here are the Coles Notes:

Find each word from the list of words in the puzzle – when completed, use the remaining letters in the puzzle to unscramble the 6 letter solution. Good luck!

I was asked to pick a song from Neil Young‘s album Harvest for a tribute compilation in UK’s MOJO Magazine. In sound and feeling Harvest is so complete and cohesive that you can know and love the album just as well as you can know and love any one of its songs. Still, ‘Out on the Weekend’ stood out for me and I chose that song. It’s a sad and mysterious song. The singer seems quite young and fragile but also independent and brave enough to just pack up and move away. The song moved me before I had even heard of the singer, which is to say a long time ago. Just to come clean, I also chose it because it’s the first track on the album and I thought that’s not a bad place to appear on a compilation.

I recorded the song with Stew Crookes at the Rogue Studio in Toronto with Bazil Donovan from Blue Rodeo playing bass, Julie Penner from Do Make Say Think playing violin and Rob Drake from Zeus playing drums. I had done some recording with Garth Hudson for my most recent album, Constant Companion. He was in the area, coincidentally enough playing a show put on by Neil Young’s brother Bob in Omeemee, one of several places in Canada with a legitimate claim as Neil Young’s hometown. Garth was able to come and play on the recording as well. When we sat down to do the song we had a pretty sweet band. I love playing cover songs but recording them is another story. What are you going to add to this song? What should be changed and what should be kept the same? How do you avoid making a weak copy of the original or an overly deliberate departure? In my mind I was grappling with all of that but then we just started playing and after three or four takes we were satisfied that we had our own version. Julie Faught from the Pining overlaid a harmony vocal on the chorus and then we sent it off into the ether.

Sometimes I wonder what Neil Young would have thought of it. I also think that songwriters can marvel at their own songs and wonder where they came from. I don’t know what he was writing about in that song but it gives me my own very clear feeling and that’s where I drew the inspiration to record it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGQY93uB43k

Massey Hall presents Doug Paisley live at The Rivoli in Toronto on June 4, 2011 with special guest, Lindi Ortega.

With the pending arrival of the New Year comes a time of reflection. Though Rob Gordon of High Fidelity would argue that list-making is a year round activity (particularly top-five lists), the end-of-the-year best-of lists are really a genre unto themselves.

Spending any amount of time on the webbernet this time of year, you’ll stumble across at least a handful of such lists, and likely more. Torontoist is busy blogging about Toronto’s Heroes and Villains which you’ll be able to vote on from December 27-30. SPIN has a rather hilarious ranking of their favourite twitpics of the year (my fave: Snoop Dogg). One of our friends on Twitter sent us his blogpost detailing his favourite concerts of the year; you can check it out (and vote for yourself) here.

There’s a lot of ground to cover in the world of year-end-lists so, we’ve distilled down this year in music into our very own list.

Behold:

Soundboard’s Top Ten List of…Year-In-Review Lists!

10. The scientific: Billboard issued their many, many year-end charts. Not surprisingly, scandalous Lady Gaga is Top Artist while, of course, sweet Taylor Swift takes second prize. As this list is a cross-section of all genres, it’s kind of fun to see Alicia Keyes (#21), Susan Boyle (#12), the Glee Cast (#37) and Brad Paisley (#64) hanging out together in Billboard-land.

9. The classic: Rolling Stone issued their take on the 50 Best Songs of 2010. Like Billboard, this list crosses genre lines though is perhaps not quite as far reaching (read: Kenny Chesney doesn’t make the cut). This seems to be one of the only year-end lists that didn’t forget about Cee Lo’s saucy single that took the internet (and the mainstream, if you count his radio-friendly version “Forget You”) by storm.

8. The indie: Yeah, yeah I know – that word doesn’t mean anything anymore. I’m going to use it anyway, because the spirit of the word is the vibe that Exclaim!’s Pop & Rock Albums of the Year list gives. Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs takes the cake here and other class acts Owen Pallett, The National, Sufjan Stevens, local hero Diamond Rings, and sixteen other artists and bands round out the list of twenty.

7. The inspirational: BlogTO makes this list for their list The Top 10 Toronto Breakout Artists and Bands in 2010. I give much respect to BlogTO for finding a new spin on the end-of-the-year list – one that gives support and love to those who are new to the scene (at least in their current configuration). Inclusions are Isis Salam, the energetic beyond all belief Thunderheist member; Sheezer, the all girls Weezer cover band (say it is so!), and taking #1 is Jimmy Brooks, I mean Drake.

6. The mandatory: You really can’t have a ranking of music rankings without the head ranker of all – Pitchfork. Over the years, their annual year-end list of the Top 50 Albums has vindicated album purchases and arguments about said purchases for hipsters everywhere, (as in “Ha! I told you, fellow-hipster, that in this, the year 2008, the Fleet Foxes album was totally more rad than Deerhunter’s.”) This year’s list, however, saw some serious backlash from fellow online music magazine Chartattack for naming Kanye West’s latest effort as #1.

5. The critical: The National Post’s end-of-the-year rankings are still a work in progress. The Battle Royal of Albums is pitting album against album in what I picture to be a room full of critics pacing, arguing, and ultimately choosing the winner in jury duty style proceedings. For an example, check out the third Quarter-final contest between Arcade Fire and She & Him.

4. The local: EYE Weekly gives us The Best Toronto Albums of 2010 which, we’re excited to see features Doug Paisley’s disc Constant Companion (Doug Paisley just performed as Special Guest for Bahamas at Glenn Gould Studio in November). The weekly also features the best concerts of 2010 and a review of the Toronto music scene in 2010 reminding us about the Toronto & music love-in that was Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and the everlasting phenomenon that is/was K’naan’s “Wavin Flag.”

3. The listen-to-able: Can I just say, for the record (pun-intended), that I heart Spinner? There’s always good stuff there – live performances, downloads, and most excellent – “Listening Party,” streaming of new CDs for free! Spinner has joined the list-making-train and put together theirs, entitled Best Albums of 2010: 30 Releases That Mattered Most This Year, and in true Spinner style, it comes “complete with CD listening party and Interface links so you can hear (and download) much of this gobsmackingly great music for yourself.” If you haven’t already heard them, here’s your chance to check out Broken Social Scene’s Forgiveness Rock Record (#16) and MGMT’s Congratulations (#14) among other required listening for 2010.

2. The invitational: While this is a very different sort of year-end ranking, it’s one to watch – as it happens – year after year. In Chartattack’s 26th Annual Year-End Readers’ Poll, you have the chance to vote on such delightful categories as The Golden Toque (Best Canadian Album), The Lord Mullet of Stanley Award (Best Hair), and The Follow the Herd Award (Stupidest Trend). Most fun is the “View Results” option where you see the battles really happen – check out The Throw Your Underwear Award Female (Sexiest Canadian Woman) to see a real duel between Avril Lavigne and LIGHTS.

1. The all-inclusive: Like EYE Weekly, NOW Magazine pays some well-deserved attention to the fun times in Toronto with lists like Top 10 Local Albums. NOW, however, wins our year-end award for best year-end awarding because of its totally thorough and comprehensive review of pretty much everything in their 2010 Year In Review. Check out The Top 10 Concerts (on which the Belle & Sebastian concert at Massey made #5) and Best & Worst Comedy where “Funniest Interview” went to Women Fully Clothed for taking NOW Magazine on a run around the city in their tour van (in advance of their Massey Hall performance in May). Of course, Now Magazine also has your standard Top 10 albums and a wide assortment of other rankings including topics on Food & Drink, Environmentalism, and don’t forget 2010: The Moments that Defined a Wild Year.

Stefania Paterak is Programming Coordinator at Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall

“10″ photo by jontintinjordan

We’re proud that our Halls are home to some of Toronto’s most exciting and memorable concerts and events. Not only do we present some of these events ourselves, we host and welcome major and independent promoters from across Canada. They all contribute greatly to our city’s diverse and inspiring arts and cultural scene. In this column, we celebrate some of these promoters and turn the spotlight on them. This week, we speak with Attila Glatz and take a look at Attila Glatz Concert Productions.

Strong entrepreneurial spirit has driven Attila Glatz to three successful decades of concert production & promotion, community arts development, and festival organization in North America. Some of his many accomplishments include the 1993 co-founding of the successful Huntsville Festival of the Arts in Ontario, of which he remains Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus; the North American presenter, since 2003, of the sensational Daniel O’Donnell concert tours; the successful Toronto debut of Burn the Floor, and the Ten Tenors; the North American debut tour of the world-famous Vienna Mozart Orchestra; and an exclusive Toronto-only engagement of world-famous tenor Plácido Domingo in 2000.

Attila & Marion Glatz in St. Petersburg

In 1995, Marion and Attila Glatz introduced the idea of the traditional Viennese New Year’s Day concert to North American audiences. Recently, Marion and Attila Glatz were presented with the Austrian Government’s prestigious “Decoration of Merit in Gold” for their tireless efforts promoting Austrian culture worldwide.

Having worked for Attila Glatz Concert Productions previously, I can attest to their passion for the arts and their commitment to creating great shows.

Soundboard: Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Attila Glatz: I started as a professional pianist in the business at the age of 24, after finishing the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. Shortly after I defected from communist Hungary to the West and immigrated to Canada in 1970. After extensive touring as a musician, I decided to settle down and produce concerts.

Sb: How long have you been promoting events?

AG: Our first concert was in October 1988 and since then we have produced over 500 concerts across North America and Europe. Last year we made Pollstar’s top 100 list of North American promoters.

Sb: What types of events do you promote?

AG: We promote mostly classical concerts and our flagship product is Salute to Vienna, the re-creation of the world famous Neujahrskonzert in Vienna, which became the largest simultaneously produced concert series in North America. This year we are producing 22 concerts in 22 cities within 3 days. In addition to that, we are producing an Opera Extravaganza called Bravissimo! Opera’s Greatest Hits for the 4th consecutive year on New Year’s Eve at Roy Thomson Hall. Salute has been our annual presentation now for the past 16 years. However, we have produced many other shows in the past from the Budapest Festival Orchestra to the Ukrainian National Dance Company to Bobby Vinton, to Tango Argentina, just to mention a few. We’re presenting Tango Buenos Aires at Roy Thomson Hall in February.

Sb: What inspired you to become an event promoter?

AG: I have been involved with music since the age of 4 and have dedicated all my life to this profession. There is no better feeling than to see people happy at the concert hall watching our productions.

For more information on Attila Glatz Concert Productions upcoming events at Roy Thomson Hall, click here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK2egnVES4c

Lisa Bassett is a Marketing and New Media Associate at Massey Hall & Roy Thomson Hall.

I’ve been getting to know Canada really well in the past few years and we seem to get along quite well. In fact, I’d say we’re good friends. There have been some long nights, early mornings, a breakdown outside of Edmonton and a epic day spent at Canadian Tire trying to fix a broken tour van. But hey, it makes our relationship even stronger.

I got a call from the CBC a little while back asking me if I was interested in representing British Columbia for this year’s Great Canadian Songquest. I was honoured to take part and also excited to contribute my experience of life on the road and my love for BC. There is not a day that goes by where I’m not taken aback by the beauty of the province, and I have such an appreciation for the life I live.

On October 1st 2010, the road that I had to capture into song was revealed. Listeners nominated The Freedom Highway. Though I’ve not had the privilege of venturing down this great road, I’ve gotten to know its history through research and personal accounts online. I was moved by the story behind The Freedom Highway and I felt as though I could relate and contribute a meaningful song. The Freedom Highway wouldn’t have existed if it weren’t for a courageous and determined few people that believed in themselves and their ideas. These people were refused funding from the government to build a route from Bella Coola to Anahim Lake and contributed their own money and hard labour to make this road what it is today. I really wanted to capture that amazing story in my song (titled “Drive“) and also make it a little personal. I’ve been in many situations where I’ve been told that my ideas weren’t practical and couldn’t be done. If I’d chosen to listen or take it personally, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today.

Opportunities like Songquest have been presented to me recently and I’ve taken on the challenge. I never thought in a million years that I would approach songwriting that way. For me, songwriting has always been a very personal process. Challenges like this one have broadened my outlook and hopefully bettered me as a songwriter.

Guest contributor, Hannah Georgas performs her song as part of the Great Canadian Songquest tonight (Oct 26) live at Glenn Gould Studio. You can also see her in Toronto when she performs at Queen Elizabeth Theatre on November 26 as special guest to Royal Wood