Celebrating 30 Years

Message fromElora Festival &Singers Chair,

JAY BAKER

Again this year it is my privi-lege and pleasure to be theChair of the Elora Festival andSingers and to welcome youto the village of Elora for this

the 30th season of the Elora Festival. From opening nightwith the monumental Berlioz Requiem to the final strainsof the Handel Coronation Anthems, this year’s programmeis a fitting testimonial to the success of the festivalthroughout the last thirty years. Whether your preference isclassical, choral, chamber, jazz or popular we can accom-modate your musical tastes. We have even brought backthe quarry series as part of our celebration, and are pleasedto inaugurate our Festival Academy in this important year.

Our seasoned Artistic Director Noel Edison and our noviceGeneral Manager Jurgen Petrenko have arranged such astellar list of performers that I am sure choosing which con-certs to attend will have proved to be as big a challenge foryou as it was for me. Take this to be an invitation to attendas many as you like. The success of our season is very muchmeasured by the satisfaction of our audience. Our successalso depends on a capable, energetic office and productionstaff, a dedicated volunteer board of directors, and an armyof volunteers all of whom need to be recognized for theirenthusiasm and hard work. We also thank our government,corporate and individual sponsors as well as the Membersof the Elora Festival who have chosen to support us beyondthe ticket price and continue to show faith in this organi-zation.

In these challenging economic times we all need a respitefrom our very real cares and worries. What better way tosoothe our minds and revitalize our spirits than to plan arelaxing day in Elora, perhaps have a picnic in the Gorge,and take in a concert or two. From the days of the psalmistDavid we have been aware of the healing power of music.As a physician and a singer I am very aware of it. Comeexperience that power for yourself. I look forward to seeingyou in Elora this summer.

Jay BakerChair, Elora Festival and Singers

On a late summer after-noon in 1978, four people sataround a kitchen table anddiscussed the idea of having amusic festival in Elora thatwould be similar to thepopular Tangle wood MusicFestival tucked in theBerkshire Hills of Massa -chusetts.

Bill Ellis, Michael Purves-Smith, Annette Smith, and a19-year-old Noel Edison spokeabout the pros and cons. Whowould attend a festival likethat? Who could they get toper form? Where would themon ey come from? Wherewould they perform? After all,Tanglewood had received agift of 210 acres of buildings,lawns, and meadows.

That was almost biggerthan the entire village of Elora.It seemed like an impossibledream. But it was a dream thatthe four believed in, and in1979, Three Centuries Festivalwas incorporated. Ellis was thefounding Chair, and Purves-Smith was the foundingArtistic Director. From Aug. 8to 17, 1980, concerts were set,all consisting of music fromthe 16th, 17th, and 18th cen-turies.

“It was a nail-bitingexperi ence,” recalled Edison,now the Artistic Director.“Purves-Smith had the [WilfridLaurier] university connec-tions, and I worked the com-munity, telling every one I raninto that they should come tothis great, new event. Andthey did! The community wasfantastic with their support.We started with a $40,000budget. But in the end, I felttriumphant. We made just over$600.”

It was quite a festival.Performers included theAmadé Trio, Susan Prior, PeterOrme, and Christel Thielman. Aspe cial concert for childrenwas pro grammed, and Edison,al ong with five additional per -formers, dressed in Shake -spearean costume as a piedpiper led the children to theirevent. Most concerts wereheld at St. John’s Church inElora.

A year later, ThreeCenturies Festival Choir wasformed. “We were desperatefor artists, so I pulled together

the best choristers I could find.There were eight of them,”Edison remembered. “Andthey did one concert, Bach’sCantata BWV 209. But every -one just loved it!”

That was 30 years ago.Since then, Three CenturiesFestival has been renamed theElora Festival, has a milliondollar budget, and has evolvedinto an internationallyacclaim ed annual music festi-val that attracts capacity audi-ences to the scenic village.Edison has been the ArtisticDirector for 26 of those years,and has increased the scope ofmusic to include a wide arrayof genres, from chamber tojazz, with close to 40 concertsper formed over three weeks inJuly and August. St. John’sChurch is still the main venue;however other, larger churchesare also included in the roster,as well as the Elora Quarry.

Originally the "old swim -ming hole," the Elora Quarry isa two-acre former limestonequarry encircled by sheer cliffsup to 40 feet high. JenniferLopez chose the quarry as alocation in her movie AngelEyes. Festival performers tooktheir place on a barge in themiddle of the water.

The largest location is theGambrel Barn. A salt and sandstorage facility for the countyin the winter, the barn is mag-ically transformed into a con-cert hall during the Festival.“Many people, artists includ-ed, think that the GambrelBarn is just the name of thehall,” said Edison. “And theyare always surprised to findthat it really is a barn. But theacoustics are magnificent.Guest artists are always over-whelmed by how perfect thesound is. In fact, Kiri TeKanawa told me last year thatshe wanted to take the barnwith her as her personal per-formance hall. You can’t getany higher praise than that.”

The festival is renownedfor presenting the finestCanadian performers, includ-ing Richard Margison, MeashaBruegger gosman, KarinaGauvin, and Michael Burgess.And each year, Canadian com-posers are commissioned towrite new works, includingSaul Irving Glick, Robert

Evans, Imant Raminsh, andGlen Buhr. It also nurturesemerging talent through theestablishment of TD CanadaTrust Festival Competition foryoung per form ers and thenewly formed Elora FestivalAcademy of Music.

Three Centuries FestivalChoir has also grown. It wasrenamed Elora Festival Sing -ers, a group of 24 of the finestchoristers in Ontario. Theyremain the choral ensemble-in-residence during theFestival, and in 1997, becameprofes sional core of theToronto Mendelssohn Choirand the Toronto MendelssohnSingers.

Through regular concertser ies, recordings, broadcasts,and touring, the Elora FestivalSingers have been named bythe Canada Council as one ofthe finest chamber choirs inCanada. They contribute to themusical life of not only of thecommunity, but on an inter -national stage. Global touringhas brought the choir to audi -ences around the world,includ ing the Chan Centre inVan couver, Carnegie Hall inNew York City, and theMusikverein in Vienna.

They perform not only as achoral choir, but also as back-up musicians for internationalcon temporary artists. RogerHodgson, former front-man forSupertramp, has performedwith the Singers on three sep -arate occasions at CasinoRama near Barrie, and wouldnot consider using any otherchoir.

In 2005, the two compa-nies merged and became theElora Festival and Singers.

Even the media have start-ed to pay attention. In 1980,Willi am Littler, music criticfrom The Star wrote:“Take adentist from Elora, a lawyerfrom Guelph, add a studentand fac ul ty member fromWilfrid Laurier University andwhat have you got, aside froma potentially acrimoniousgame of bridge? The foundersof a music festival, that’swhat!”

Hardly a glowing review.But in 2008, Ken Winters fromthe Globe and Mail said,“Edison's choristers have risenin strength in the 28 years

since he founded them ... theSingers were intelligible,immaculately in tune andresponsive to the beauties anddramas of Han del's choralwriting. As for theirarticulation in coloratura pass -ages, it could serve many solo -ists as an object lesson."

Proof that, with faith, hardwork, dedication, the supportof both corporate and indivi -dual donors, and the artisticex cellence that makes theFestival unique, the EloraFestival and Singers hasearned its repu tation.

From July 10 to Aug. 2,2009, the Elora Festival cele-brates its 30th anniversary. Thecelebration begins with theepic Berlioz Requiem on open-ing night, and includes CarlOrff’s Carmina Burana,Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, ANight at the Opera, Handel’sCoronation Anthems and Hay -dn’s Lord Nelson Mass. A fre-quent visitor to the festival,André Laplante, performs anafternoon of the music ofLiszt. Preeminent sopranoDawn Upshaw presents a solorecital on July 18. A breastcancer survivor, Upshaw ishonoured that the EloraFestival will donate $5 fromthe sale of each ticket to theCanadian Breast CancerFoundation, Ontario Branch.

Popular performers includeOliver Jones, Capital Brass -Works, Lily Frost, and MichaelOcchipinti and The Sicilian JazzProject. The Quarry Seriespresents Natalie MacMaster,and Serena Ryder. The EloraFestival Singers will also per -form excerpts from SoundOver All Waters with specialguest Paul Halley. Chamberconcerts include LawrenceWiliford, Daniel Bolshoy, theZapp String Quartet, and aspecial performance of theKreutzer Project.

“A great man once said, ‘Ifyou can dream it, you can doit,’” said Edison. “This senti -ment inspired a small group ofpeople over 30 years ago inthe Village of Elora. Look whatwe have now - a festival ofworldwide acclaim that hashost ed more than 5,000nation al and internationalartists.”

Kitchen table talk of four led to world renowned Elora Festival

Winner of the 30th Anniversary Art Competition - David Wilcox

Message fromElora FestivalArtistic Director,

NOEL EDISON

A great man once said, “If youcan dream it, you can do it.”This is not a statement fromthe ever popular Barrack

Obama, or even from Martin Luther King. This universalsentiment happened upon four people over thirty years agoin the Village of Elora. Look what we have now - a festivalof worldwide acclaim that has hosted more than 5,000national and international artists.

As we begin our venture to our next thirty years, we cele-brate this anniversary with the epic Berlioz Requiem, theinternationally acclaimed soprano Dawn Upshaw, CarminaBurana, A Night at the Opera, the great Canadian pianistOliver Jones, and a return to concerts in the Elora Quarry.

This is a year of celebration. This is a landmark occasion.This is your Elora Festival.

Whether you are coming for the first time, or coming onceagain, I invite you to experience the fulfillment of a dreamthat began 30 years ago.

Noel EdisonArtistic Director, Elora Festival and Singers

ELORA FESTIVAL SINGERS

The Wellington Advertiser, Friday, June 12, 2009 PAGE TWENTY THREE

| Theresa Thibodeau, soprano | Valerie Kinslow, soprano | Sandra Graham, mezzo soprano | Glyn Evans, tenor | Theodore Baerg, baritone | John Dodington, bass | Carol Bauman, percussion | Sinfonia Missisauga | Festival Chorus | Leslie De’Ath, harpsichord ~ 1991 An Exaltation of M

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Friday, July 103:00 p.m. Gambrel Barn

Open Rehearsal

Lawrence Wiliford, tenorElora Festival Singers

Toronto Mendelssohn ChoirElora Festival OrchestraNoel Edison, conductor

Friday, July 107:15 p.m. Gambrel Barn

Pre-Concert LectureRick Phillips

Friday, July 108:00 p.m. Gambrel Barn

Berlioz RequiemLawrence Wiliford, tenor

Elora Festival SingersToronto Mendelssohn Choir

Elora Festival OrchestraNoel Edison, conductor

Saturday, July 112:00 p.m. St. John’s Church

Sound AdviceRick Phillips

Saturday, July 114:00 p.m. St. John’s Church

Peter and the WolfRick Phillips, narratorJason Cutmore, pianoDaniel Sullivan, organ

Saturday, July 118:00 p.m. Gambrel Barn

Oliver Jones Trio

Sunday, July 122:00 p.m. St. John’s Church

Shauna RolstonCello Recital

Shauna Rolston, celloElora Festival Singers

Noel Edison, conductor

Sunday, July 124:00 p.m. St. John’s Church

Daniel Bolshoy

Wednesday, July 157:30 p.m. St. John’s Church

TD Canada Trust FestivalCompetitionFinal Round

Thursday, July 168:00 p.m. Gambrel Barn

Gadji-Gadjo

Thursday, July 168:00 p.m. St. John’s Church

Festival ExchangeJames Campbell, clarinet

New Zealand String QuartetElora Festival Singers

Noel Edison, conductor

Friday, July 174:00 p.m. Elora Public School

Festival Kids CampFinal Performance“The Return of the

Glass Slipper”

Friday, July 178:00 p.m. Gambrel Barn

Dawn Upshaw

Saturday, July 182:00 p.m. St. John’s Church

Lawrence Wiliford Lawrence Wiliford

Jennifer Swartz, harp

Saturday, July 184:00 p.m. St. John’s Church

Handel Organ ConcertiMichael Bloss

Elora Festival Baroque Players

Saturday, July 188:00 p.m. Gambrel Barn

Capital BrassWorks

Sunday, July 192:00 p.m. Gambrel Barn

Music for Choir and Brass

Elora Festival SingersCapital BrassWorks

Noel Edison, conductor

Sunday, July 194:00 p.m. Gambrel Barn

André Laplante

Tuesday, July 218:30 p.m. Elora Quarry

Natalie MacMaster

Wednesday, July 228:30 p.m. Elora QuarrySound Over All Waters

Theresa Thomason, sopranoElora Festival SingersPaul Halley, keyboard

Nick Halley, percussionNoel Edison, conductor

Thursday, July 238:30 p.m. Elora Quarry

Serena Ryder

Friday, July 248:00 p.m. Gambrel Barn

Carmina BuranaLaura Whalen, sopranoColin Ainsworth, tenorPeter Barrett, baritone,Noel Edison, conductor

Saturday, July 252:00 p.m. St. John’s Church

Life Begins at 30Julie Baumgartel, violin

David Rose, violaMary-Katherine Finch, cello

Leslie De'Ath, piano

Saturday, July 254:00 p.m. St. John’s Church

David Eggert

Saturday, July 258:00 p.m. Gambrel Barn

Lily FrostThe Billie Holiday Songbook

Sunday, July 262:00 p.m. Gambrel Barn

The Fairy Queen

Suzie LeBlanc, sopranoLawrence Wiliford, tenor

Daniel Lichti, bassElora Festival Singers

Toronto Masque Theatre Noel Edison, conductor

July 28 - 304:00 p.m. Drew House

Elora Festival Academy ofMusic – Daily Recitals

Kimberly Barber, instructorDaniel Lichti, instructorLeslie De’Ath, instructor

Thursday, July 308:00 p.m. Gambrel Barn

Jayme StoneMansa Sissoko

Africa to Appalachia

Friday, July 314:00 p.m. St. John’s Church

Elora Festival Academy of Music

Final Concert

Friday, July 318:00 p.m. Gambrel Barn

A Night at the Opera

Joni Henson, sopranoMaria Soulis, alto

Marc Hervieux, tenorGreg Dahl, baritone

Elora Festival SingersMendelssohn Singers

Stuart Hamilton, narratorNoel Edison, conductor

Saturday, August 12:00 p.m. St. John’s Church

Zapp String Quartet

Saturday, August 14:00 p.m. St. John’s Church

The Kreutzer ProjectColin Fox, Narrator

Penderecki String Quartet

Saturday, August 18:00 p.m. Gambrel BarnThe Sicilian Jazz Project

Michael Occhipinti

Sunday, August 23:00 p.m. Gambrel Barn

Coronation AnthemsMarion Samuel-Stevens,

sopranoMichael Uloth, bass

Elora Festival SingersElora Festival OrchestraNoel Edison, conductor

519.846.03311.888.747.7550

www.elorafestival.com

30Years

THE WELLINGTON ADVERTISERcongratulates the

on 30 yearsof rich culturalhistory.

We share the vision of showcasing the talentof local and international artists.

Celebrate the arts with us every week.

Elora Festival

PAGE TWENTY SIX The Wellington Advertiser, Friday, June 12, 2009