Consider the following images of Stratford: Bach Walks along the T.J. Dolan Trail, Music for an Avon Morning on Tom Patterson Island, MusicBarge concerts near the heart of downtown.
One thing they share in common? None of them has anything to do with Shakespeare and company. They belong to Stratford鈥檚 鈥渙ther鈥 festival.
This is the 16th season for , a compilation of some 85 events, a third of them free or pay what you can, continuing in various venues through Aug. 28.
And it all began, one might argue, when Yo-Yo Ma won the Glenn Gould Prize in 海角社区官网and took his family to see the Stratford Festival production of David Young鈥檚 Gould-inspired play Glenn.
Following the performance, John Miller, then executive director of the Glenn Gould Foundation, told the superstar cellist of his dream one day to bring music back to Stratford, where Gould had been a regular participant in the festival鈥檚 once active music program.
鈥淵ou get it started,鈥 he remembers Ma saying, 鈥渁nd someday I will come.鈥
鈥淚 always remember that he didn鈥檛 say he would reduce his fee,鈥 Miller smiles.
A few years later, Miller and his partner purchased a getaway house in Stratford and on moving day, Dec. 13, 1993, walking downtown for some lunch, the veteran cultural animator ran into Stratford鈥檚 mayor, who upon learning that the sometime vice-principal of Central Secondary School was back in town, asked, 鈥淛ohn, when can we have music again in the summer?鈥
It wasn鈥檛 that no one had tried to fill the void left by the Stratford Festival鈥檚 abandonment of its music program. Miller himself had helped pianist Elyakim Taussig launch a previous Stratford Summer Music, an overly ambitious 10-week project that gradually shrank in size and eventually collapsed.
This time, he decided to begin small with a two week program (since grown to six weeks) and when he revealed his idea to Richard Monette, the Stratford Festival鈥檚 artistic director reportedly replied, 鈥淗aven鈥檛 we been down this road before?鈥
Skepticism notwithstanding, Monette took out his chequebook and wrote one of the first cheques in support of the new enterprise. Miller knew then that he had the Stratford Festival鈥檚 effective if unofficial blessing.
鈥淚 also knew what I didn鈥檛 want,鈥 he recalls. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want a Shakespeare鈥檚 life and times program to mirror the Stratford Festival. I wanted variety and that, I believe, is one of the things that has bound us to the community.鈥
Yes, the bulk of his programming does involve classical music 鈥 Saturday鈥檚 recital at St. Andrew鈥檚 Church features the fast-rising keyboard star Simone Dinnerstein鈥攂ut non-classical artists range from Carole Pope to the Artie Shaw Orchestra, with the country/roots/blues music of Whisky Jack returning for the third straight year. There will even be a tribute to legendary Canadian fiddler Don Messer.
Stratford Summer Music appears to get a bang for its buck. With a budget of only $800,000, it mounts not only an extensive concert series but a number of educational projects, this summer including an illustrated music lecture series with critic-broadcaster Robert Harris; master classes with percussionist Beverley Johnston and composer Christos Hatzis; and, perhaps most impressively, an academy for young professional singers led by a vocal faculty including Michael Schade and Phillip Addis.
Miller credits support from such government agencies as the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund with helping the festival grow and the loyalty of such popular artists as Jan Lisiecki with helping build its audience. This is the Alberta pianist鈥檚 sixth year at the festival and talks are underway for him to return for a seventh.
鈥淲e are riding on the coattails of the Stratford Festival,鈥 Miller acknowledges. 鈥淎rtists like to come here with their families. We rent houses for them and they take in the plays. It鈥檚 all part of what we call the Stratford experience.鈥
The festival鈥檚 artistic producer points out that survival still involves financial struggle, but that struggle hasn鈥檛 stopped him from dreaming. His long-term dream? A permanent home for Stratford Summer Music.
A former student, now a practising architect, has even drawn up a proposal for an outdoor facility in the neighbouring hamlet of Harmony, complete with a pavilion, chamber music terrace, landscaped gardens and restaurant, and a stage large enough to accommodate a full symphony orchestra.
鈥淲e are a confetti festival,鈥 Miller says, 鈥渟pread out in a variety of places. Harmony is only an eight to 10-minute drive from city hall and could give us a home, a place open to the stars.鈥
A case of stargazing? Perhaps, but then, 16 years ago, who would have thought a town in southern Ontario would be able to play host to two of Canada鈥檚 most important summer festivals?
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