K-W & Beyond 

Picture this – you wonder how to recover from a stressful day’s work, you suddenly remember a music performance is happening this evening nearby, no parking expense, informal dress, where you can sit as close to the musicians as you wish. This is Living Room Music taking place several times a month in the intimate setting of Jan and Jean Narveson’s residence in Waterloo where the audience of 85 or so can enjoy the close-up view of the hand movements and the instruments being played on. Maybe there is a music society in your area as well. This one is in existence since 1974, the concerts began in this location in 1980.

Besides celebrating the best chamber music of the past, many of the concerts have a strong contemporary flavour including some performed from scores where the ink is barely dry. Sometimes it is the very first public performance of a new group, or an up and coming soloist. Sometimes the concert is the triumphant victory lap of recent winners of The Banff Festival of the Arts, or a returning favourite soloist demonstrating a newly learned technique or area of interest.

Besides a permanent grand Steinway piano in the Music Room, instruments brought by the artists range from the very latest electronic synthesiser all the way back to instruments sounding as they would have before Mozart’s time or even as invented millennia ago in China or Korea. Some of them have been million dollar violins or cellos on loan from Canada Council to star artists. There are also harp, clavichord or percussion concerts.

Rather than a time machine stuck on 300 years ago, the Music Room is more like a Grand Central Station for experiencing close-ups of the best of chamber music from any time

any place. Many artists even of international renown make a point of coming back again and again to this venue because they know the audience is experienced, knowledgeable and will give their undivided attention to the music until it concludes. Sometimes it is the silences in the passages or the subtlety of certain parts that gives the music its immense impact that would be lost in the larger setting. Every concert is professionally recorded, and for many concerts the CDs are made available within a week.

Through the course of a year the series could cover any of the following areas: classic chamber music of Haydn, Beethoven and Brahms, baroque era masterpieces of Bach, Telemann and Scarlatti, guitar music both classic or flamenco Latin, from soloist to ensembles of eight, piano treasure pieces of Chopin and others, harpsichord or electronic key-board or accordion; all-jazz programs, occasionally cabaret songs, all-wind festivals or even all-percussion evenings.

Jan Narveson says he no longer needs to solicit the artists, it is they who ask to come to Waterloo and bring us material which they will present in Carnegie Hall or in Roy Thompson Hall or will soon record.

In the near future, three interwoven festivals are scheduled: a Beethoven 3-concert series in May, a 7-concert QuartetFest in May-June and 3 Saturdays of WindFest in June. Savings are available by purchasing a festival pass for each or all concerts, discounted for seniors and students. Incidentally, Jan Narveson welcomes music lovers who wish to come on the regular basis using annual Super-Tickets offering around 70 concerts a year for under $5 per concert. An unbeatable bargain in fine music!

Many thanks to David Hutchings for his assistance in researching and writing of this article.