April, 2006 - Nr. 4
K-W Symphony celebrates
its 60th Anniversary
by Herwig Wandschneider
On Friday April 28th, the K-W Symphony Orchestra will celebrate its 60th anniversary with a Beethoven concert conducted by Raffi Armenian and the Beaux Arts Trio. The closing symphony – the Eroica – alone will be reason enough to enjoy the evening at Kitchener’s Centre in the Square.
The K-W Symphony (KWS) continues to work hard to recover from the considerable reduced subscriber- and audience- base initiated with the events of 2003 and the subsequent never-ending squabbles aired publicly in the months that followed.
Finally, in the second half of 2005, key participants in these squabbles retired as dictated by the bylaws. New management and vital changes in the Board and Executive are the result, and all are now busy with planning the 2006-2007 season, hopefully with surprises that will return this city’s classical music lovers back to the Centre in the Square.
Unencumbered by the strife of 2003-2005, the no-nonsense, yet diplomatic, direction of Chair Bob Astley, General Manager Daniel Donaldson and Artistic Advisor & Principal Guest Conductor Simon Streatfield should eventually lead to harmony among the players and the return of community support of its Symphony Orchestra.
Financially, the KWS suffered a loss of nearly $300,000 in fiscal 2005, compared to the positive result (before unusual expenditures) of nearly $300,000 in fiscal 2004. The cumulative deficit of just under $600,000 may well worsen in fiscal 2006, if audience levels, corporate support and fundraising results do not improve.
The Centre in the Square will also have to do its part to support hall-filling events. If the recent Mozart concert (not a KWS event) is any indication, all K-W music lovers have not returned to live concerts, at least not here. In the last issue, Echo Germanica reported on a fantastic Mozart Celebration (see also http://www.echoworld.com/B06/B0603/B0603Austria.htm ) with a Vienna style atmosphere organized by the Canadian Austrian Society in Toronto. No one expected this kind of event at the Centre in the Square, of course. But for the 250 year Mozart Celebration it was reasonable to expect, even on a Tuesday night, a full house, some Vienna style decorations (not a bare-bones stage) and a whole lot more than Mozart’s delightful music and period costumes. The Vienna Mozart Orchestra under the baton of Manuel Hernandez Silva was in fact excellent, and both Soprano Claudia Ema Camie and Baritone Sokolin Asllani were superb in voice and presentation. But the music and those wonderful period costumes were not sufficient to provide the advertised "typical Viennese atmosphere".
Clearly, both the KWS and the Centre in the Square will have their hands full to bring back the community’s enthusiasm. With all the changes that have already taken place, there is hope for the 2006-2007 season.
