Dana & Alfred Kunz

When your name is Alfred Kunz, that is Dr. Alfred Kunz, then you are a known entity in the world of music, especially in Canada (and also beyond), where literally thousands of young people got turned on to the sound of music at the University of Waterloo, in choir practices and through other musical endeavours. The Canadian Musical Archives are full with the works of talented composers and Alfred Kunz’s work is part of this great national legacy.

Regardless of what style music anyone prefers, no one can really imagine a world without music. It is like imagining a world without grass or water or birds or other living creatures. When we try to imagine a world devoid of such things they insinuate themselves back into our consciousness, try as we would to shut them out. It is impossible to imagine once we have been exposed to the pleasure giving experience.

Dr. Kunz, now a bit over 80 years young, has composed something like 800 pieces of music in his career, many of them commissioned, others out of sheer pleasure and personal inspiration and desire.

His son, Christian Bellsmith, actually his wife Dana’s son from an earlier union, thought last year at the occasion of Alfred’s 80^th birthday that he never gets to hear a concert of his own compositions. He was always up front conducting, engaging an audience in the delights of music. This is when Christian, himself a gifted musical performer and musician with many a great credit to his name, plotted and planned to give Alfred Kunz a concert with Alfred Kunz compositions.

He was not alone in thinking it a brilliant idea. A whole bunch of young professional singers and performers signed on for this adventure in Alfred, singing “Sounds the shape of Magic”, which is the title of the song written by Rae Crossman and composed by Chris Bellsmith framing the concert this special night in October in the Benton Street Baptist Church, Kitchener.

“Note by note-he creates sensation-Note by note-he crafts a world,-Note by note-an incantation
With sounds the shape of music- He scores our lives with feeling
With sounds as real as dreams- He makes metaphor with music.
Hand of a lover touched in whisper
Tears in lamentations tasted
Smell of ocean in the crash of a wave
Vision of dawn in a sparrow’s chant
Impossible silence made to sound-Note by note…”

This song is such an accurate way of describing Alfred’s craft, his artistry, his skill in transforming one form of art into another, of taking life and giving it special quality, of painting with sound. No matter what the words, his style in any genre will always be unique. Often pieces will sound very familiar with harmonies that are only seemingly simple, and at the very end there will be a sudden key change just in the last part of the last line, making it sound as though the angels that just sang so beautifully suddenly experienced a voice change.

Perhaps this can be attributed to Alfred Kunz’s wicked sense of humour that shines through in all he does. He is a wise man and understands how to introduce a lightness of being into a world that becomes harder and harder to experience and survive. He knows how to keep us alive and interested.

The concert was 30 pieces long. Some of them very short vignettes, others fuller pieces. Each segment was introduced by recently knighted Dr. Michael W. Higgins, who made it possible to be here for this tribute to his old friend and once upon a time mentor in music. He spiked the commentary on the program with personal remarks and anecdotes, causing frequent laughter.

The exquisite Note by Note Choir: 16 young performers
Art Lang, double bass, & Erin Chellew, piano

The 16 young performers making up this exquisite Note by Note Choir were Judy Barlow, Christian Bellsmith, Andrea Brown, Patrick Burwell, Laura Caswell, Kate Etienne, Shawn Firlotte, Donna Garner, Ryan Kelly, Anna Kostan, Tricia Lackey, Melissa Morris, Adam Orr, TJ Tasker, Geoffrey Tyler, and Hilary Wilson. They were more than ably conducted by Aaron Eyre and wonderfully accompanied by Erin Chellew on the piano and Art Lang on the Double Bass. Matt Cassidy together with Christian Bellsmith signed responsible for the production.

Dr. Alfred Kunz's thank you to performers and audience

When Alfred Kunz took at the end to the podium to thank everyone it was with humbleness and pride and gratitude, with praise for all involved, and then, well, he could simply not keep himself from conducting at least a little bit that night a much beloved composition of his with words by Shakespeare: Shall I compare you to a summers day. It was glorious!

All that attended know: Indeed, it is important to have an Alfred Kunz in our midst.

Sybille Forster-Rentmeister