February, 2004 - Nr. 2
For the love of it
Music is one of the subjects we indulge in, you guessed it, for the love of it. Those that teach, conduct, play are really no different than those that listen and enjoy music. The one group is actively passionate about it and studies and works hard and rehearses up to 6 hours a day to perfect an art and the craft; and the spectator works hard to be a willing effect of all that artistic effort, yet musically it is spectatorism and therefore is a passive way of participating in music.
Both sides need each other in order to exist. Thus all parties are of equal importance, because what would be the use of communicating the message if there is no one to listen to it.
![George Zadubán [photo by his family]](402c-Zaduban-0.jpg)
And
then there are those occasions when all parties come together, as is the way
of funerals. When George Zadubán had his memorial service in St. Elizabeth
Church, Toronto, music lovers of sorts turned out to
remember
the man, the musician, the teacher, conductor, the father and husband and
grandpa, and the friend, the friend who brought music to everything he did.
Members
of the choirs he conducted sang him a last farewell, all five of them, three
German singing choirs, conducted that day by Dr. Alfred Kunz, who came
especially from Kitchener-Waterloo to honour a colleague, and two Hungarian
ones. And that is also how the service was held, in Hungarian. It was good
that music has its own understanding, no matter what
the
language. It was the music that brought everyone in that large and crowded
church together, whether they understood what was said or not. It was the
music that had brought all of them together always, causing understanding
and admiration between the participants.
What a fitting way to say good-bye to a man who spent his life teaching and performing/conducting music for the enjoyment of others; for the love of it.
Forget-me-nots
The children we saw grow up as the Forget-me-nots are in fact all grown up; and even though they might not perform in the way we tend to remember them, we hope to still see them occasionally in our community, while they make their way in the big cultural landscape out there.
Some
of them studied hard to develop skills in the classical instrumental field
and Rachel and Annie recently completed their grade 10 requirements for
violin. This is most admirable since they only started to study this
instrument a few years ago. Six hours of rehearsal every day in the month
leading up to the examinations, and that on top of their regular duties,
hardly left time for anything else. Just think what dedication it must take
to stick to such a stiff program!
We congratulate you wholeheartedly and wish you well for the future! We know it is for the love of music that you undertook this strenuous endeavour.
Press presence
Creating a community paper is also a labour of love. Staying informed and being part of organizing bodies is part of it.
Thus
we met together with the National Ethnic Press Council with the new Ontario
Premier Mr. Dalton McGuinty, who has always read the ethnic press pretty
well and made good use of it. In the ranks of the ethnic press are many
bodies that carefully watch for any violations of betrayal after trust. The
fall-out could have grave consequences for a government that was elected on
the backs of this press body.
For
the love of your future take the opportunity and get involved, speak out for
your province and concerns. The government is listening in various convened
forums.
Music
For the love of it I visit as many venues as possible and
support as many as possible. Next up is Opera York’s Barber of Seville with
Artistic Director Mark DuBois, Andrew Twees, Corinne Lynch and Eric Shaw.
The Opera Company has a lot of volunteers and serves a huge area north of
Toronto. Especially the work done for seniors and students is noteworthy.
Make your reservations for the Barber at Markham Theatre on the 6th
of February at 905-763-7853.
More opera
If you love opera and Mozart then The Magic Flute is for
you, produced by the Royal Opera Canada February 21-28 at the Living Arts
Centre in Mississauga and between March 4-13 in the Toronto Centre for the
Arts. Call 905-306-6000 and 416-322-0456 respectively.
Via Salzburg
This wonderful small ensemble is back with a Valentines offering, " Some enchanted Evening", February 20, 8 pm, Glenn Gould Theatre.
After
the last concert which we experienced we can hardly wait to go back and hear
more of Mayumi and her merry band of 15 musicians. The energy is always high
and the Artistic Director Mayumi Seiler endeavours to bring something new
and unique to every concert. This time we will experience Dvorak and
Tchaikovsky and Canadian composer Imant Raminsh with a work commissioned by
Ms. Seiler.
See you there and everywhere…for the love of it!
Sybille Forster-Rentmeister
Comments to: sfr@echoworld.com
