Art in the City

In a metropolis the size of Toronto there is more art to be appreciated than we could possibly cover by ourselves. Whatever comes our way we put onto our site on the internet at www.echoworld.com under EchoArt.

We certainly have favorites and one of them is Via Salzburg, a chamber string orchestra that we have featured many times for many of the last 10 years. We have added this amazing orchestra, with Mayumi Seiler at the helm to our list of sponsored favorites, like Opera York and Mooredale Concerts.

The last concert of the season was incredibly wonderful and much praised in musical circles. It featured Dennis James and his Glass Armonica. This instrument is credited to be the first instrument developed in the USA by none other than Benjamin Franklin. From the only about 30 compositions written for this instrument we heard Mozart’s Concertantequintet for Armonica and Strings, Koechelverzeichnis 617, composed in 1791. The amiable Dennis James visited Toronto and Via Salzburg for the second time and was only too happy to share his experiences. He actually had given up playing the instrument for a while after the horrible incidents of September 11. Afterwards he was not treated very nicely as an American abroad and it turned him off the desire to travel and play this rare instrument. We are very grateful that he found his way back to sharing his wonderful gift with us and to playing beautiful music. We are equally shocked to hear that musicians will hold the politics of another country against a single artist who hails from that country. It is our understanding that art and politics shall never meet and do not mix well, they do not make good bedfellows, and most artists do know that, even if they use their celebrity at times to forward a particular point of view. Mostly it is in their nature to support very pro-survival ideals rather than destructive endeavors. They are after all in the business of creating and not destroying.

But back to the concert, which featured also Arcangelo Corelli, Ludwig van Beethoven, and more Mozart and after the intermission Felix-Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s String Symphony No. 9 in C Major, composed in 1823.

Contest

Each of the Via Salzburg concerts is a distinct experience, entertaining, never boring, always interesting and engaging. Echo Germanica can give away a subscription for two for the next season if you can name how many musical sisters are in the Seiler clan. The first LETTER to arrive by mail at our address at 118 Tyrrel Ave, Toronto, ON, M6G 2G5 with the correct answer on or before August 20th will receive this subscription for two for the next season. If there is more than one answer on that first arrival date there will be a draw between those letters. Don’t forget to include your full contact information.

You can consult the website www.viasalzburg.com for all the data on the next season and you might even find your answer to the Quiz Question there.

Good luck!

Photography explores Empty Spaces

The visual arts scene of Toronto recently benefitted from the keen eye of Robert Sanbo, who translates his love of telling a story into images, captured with his digital camera. His technique is one of zeroing in on the essentials without diluting the essence of the story. It is almost as though he knows that the story is told in one instant, in one photo, one click at the right time at the right angel. The shots are perfectly framed by whatever presents itself, not needing any amount of cropping, thus presenting a complete environment. His trained eye can capture a moment that is worthy of being captured for others to appreciate. The scenes are a portrait of a location or a person or a group. They depict something that is expressed distinctly, never tentatively.

This messaging of the essentials was likely developed early on in his training as a combat photographer late during WWII, when he joined the Signal Corps after years in the Coast Guard, graduation at the top of his class and training other photographers.

After the war he continued studying the visual possibilities of filmmaking, but could not find work as a camera man easily. He ended up being a film editor on commercials, news and documentaries, especially for long durations of his 40 year work life at ABC, where his keen eye for the essentials came in really handy.

We at Echo Germanica have benefitted from his excellent skill often and hope to have the honour of his expertise again from time to time.

African sounds in the city

After having worked with Geoffrey Butler on an Austrian concert we were very keen on listening to his work with other cultural shades. When the Jubilate Singers invited him to conduct "Mother Africa- African and African inspired Music" he gladly incorporated his North 44 Ensemble into the fold and worked for 2 month alongside his regular duties to shape an extraordinary concert of African music, filled with the sounds of Zulu and Xhosa culture. Around 20 pieces came alive, as alive as a predominantly white choir ensemble can make it authentic. Percussionist Larry Graves added his drums to lend rhythmic support and flavor and story teller Abwoa Badoe and her husband Fulet on drum painted African stories of interest and beauty into the evening that gave a bit more than a glimpse into the African culture that so richly deserves to be represented in our multicultural Metropolis.

Music was and is always the easiest and perhaps the best way of getting to know about another culture, something this concert proved in abundance.