Etobicoke, today a suburb of Toronto, was once a city in its own right, and despite becoming part of The Six, retains its own character. Music and musicians from Etobicoke come under the spotlight for Our Story, the next concert presented by the Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra.
Our Story, presented on November 21, celebrates the city, its history, and its artists in various ways.
“It’s Our Story. It has a couple of different prongs to it for me,” says EPO music director Matthew Jones. “Canada is such a young country.”
The concert reflects Etobicoke’s history relative to symphonic history as a whole. “It’s fascinating to know what kind of music was being played in Europe while we were cutting roads,” he says. “It provides a kind of interesting perspective.”
The program includes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony 31 in D major, K. 297/300a “Paris”, composed in 1778 when Etobicoke was still Adobigok — nearly a decade before the Toronto Purchase from the Mississaugas of New Credit First Nation.
“It’s a reference to the Toronto Survey that began back in 1787,” he says. The Paris Symphony was written in the same decade. “Here we are surveying Etobicoke while they are listening to the Paris Symphony.”
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, Op. 49, with its obvious tie-in to the early Canadian history timeline, concludes the concert. In a collaboration with the Etobicoke Historical Society, several artefacts will be on display in the venue, including a cannon ball from the War of 1812, a historical petting zoo, and other items relating to the Toronto Purchase.
“We can’t have an 1812 cannon ball without playing the 1812 overture,” Jones says. The defeat of the French by the Russians, he notes, freed British soldiers to fight on the North American front of the war.
“I think too from a Canadian point of view, it’s the first time the French and English fought together against a common foe,” he says. “What a complex time, and what a pivotal time.”
The music doesn’t only reflect the past, however.
“We forget that we […] are making history now,” Jones says. “The decisions we make will have ramifications now. How do we want our history to be recorded? EPO is more than 60 years old; I am a steward of the orchestra today.”
Celebrating Local: Gary Kulesha
Other pieces on the program connect to Etobicoke with a much more recent perspective.
“Of course we are celebrating something from the local,” he says.
That includes composer Gary Kulesha’s Celebration Overture, which was written for EPO’s 25th anniversary. Kulesha lives in Etobicoke, and Jones is hoping he can attend the performance.
Gary Kulesha was appointed to the Order of Canada in December of 2023. He’s largely known for his work as a composer, but also works as a conductor and concert pianist. He began composing professionally at the age of 15, and many of his teenage works, including his String Trio, written when he was 16 years old, still number among his most regularly performed pieces.
After establishing a relationship with the Canadian Brass as a young composer, Kulesha worked as a composer and arranger for the ensemble. In 1988, he became the first Composer in Residence established through the then-new Canada Council for the Arts. He served in that capacity for the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony for a four year period. He then became the Composer in Residence at the Canadian Opera Company. During his three year term, his opera Red Emma was premiered by the COC in 1995.
Gary also served as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Composer Advisor from September 1995 until June of 2022, working with music directors Jukka Pekka Saraste, Sir Andrew Davis, Peter Oundjian, and Gustavo Gimeno. He also became part of the full time faculty of the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto in 2000.
Pinchas Zukerman named Kulesha as one of three Awards Composers at the National Arts Centre Orchestra in 2002, and he went on to write five commissions for NACO, including his Second Violin Concerto and Third Symphony.
More Etobians: Oscar Peterson & Local Vocals
“Another interesting surprise for me was to learn that Oscar Peterson lived in Mimico,” Matthew says.
Oscar Peterson’s iconic Hymn to Freedom is on the program, to be performed with Local Vocals, an Etobicoke choir.
“His compositions are getting more attention now,” Jones says of Peterson. “It took some time. We are celebrating him more and more as time goes by.”
Along with Peterson’s work, Local Vocals will be singing Wade Hemsworth’s Log Driver’s Waltz, a work suggested by the choir, and arranged by local artists.
“Logging is a major contributor to the local economy — or was back then,” Matthew notes. “It makes me think of a time when squirrels could cross Ontario without ever touching the ground.”
Natural history begins at home, he points out, from celebration to conservation.
The choir will also sing American composer Andy Beck’s One Candle, and When I Sing by Canadian singer-songerwriter Bill Henderson, originally in the film Bye Bye Blues. The song won a 1983 JUNO Award.
Local Vocals is a community choir with a commitment to Etobicoke.
“As the Etobicoke Philharmonic, seeking to celebrate our local history, this was an absolutely delightful partnership,” Jones says.
“We’re looking forward to making music together.”
- Find tickets and other details for the November 21 concert [HERE].
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