Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra (EPO) will present a program created by producer and musician Corey Butler of Zamar Music Inc. titled Hymns to Freedom, featuring renowned singer and actor Jackie Richardson. The concert takes place on February 1 to mark Black History Month.
Butler’s program includes music, history, reflection and narration. His Zamar Music Inc. is a music arts organization that is dedicated to making an impact via music art education, mentorship, performance and production.
LV spoke to Butler and Matthews about the concert.
Corey Butler
An accomplished pianist, producer, and entrepreneur, among other things, Butler has had a long and varied career in the music industry. He served as the Musical Director of the JUNO Award winning Toronto Mass Choir for over 10 years, and produced award-winning albums for the Choir, along with Londa Larmond and Gospel Joy (Poland), among others. As a songwriter, he’s collaborated with Grammy Award winning Hall of Fame inductee Carvin Winans.
Dedicated to music education, Butler is a music professor in the Arts, Media, Performance and Design (AMPD) program at York University.
Jackie Richardson
Canadian singer and actress Jackie Richardson has been a fixture in Toronto and Canada’s entertainment scene for decades. She’s known for roles in TV series and films such as Turning to Stone, The Gospel According to the Blues (for which she garnered a Gemini Award), The Doodlebops, More Tales of the City and Further Tales of the City, and Sins of the Father. On stage, she won a Dora Award in 2004 for the musical Cookin’ at the Cookery, and performed in roles in movies such as Three Men and a Baby, Harriet the Spy, and many more.
Born in Pennsylvania, she moved to Toronto in the mid-1950s with her family. Her father was a musician, and she began her musical career singing in a church where her grandfather served as deacon.
As a musician, she was a member of the Toronto group The Tiaras in the 1960s, and later performed with The Platters. She sings across a range of genres, including gospel, blues, and jazz. Among the highlights of her career are her performances with Joe Sealy on his album Africville, a release which won a JUNO Award.
She’s received a Maple Blues Award for her lifetime achievement from the Toronto Blues Society, and was made an Honorary Member of the Order of Canada in 2021, among her many other accolades.
Matthew Jones & Corey Butler: The Interview
How did the Hymns to Freedom Project come about?
“The first year, it actually came up as a part of my Master’s,” Butler explains. “I did my Master’s in composition.”
His studies were based on the juxtaposition of African American vs Western music cultures. The project was first staged in 2018. It was a time, Butler notes, of a great deal of racial unrest, spurred in part by the murder of George Floyd in the US.
“I just thought, why can’t we all get along?”
Hymns to Freedom marries seemingly polar opposites in terms of music cultures — the aesthetics of Western classical music and the spirituals that arise predominantly from African American culture.
“The whole premise is, we’re better together.”
It’s been presented twice since its 2018 premiere. For EPO, it’s a welcome addition to their programming.
“It’s obviously really exciting for us,” Jones says. He mentions the synergy of bringing two different cultures together in performance. “Our Discovery Series is the perfect place for that.”
He points out that the Hymns to Freedom programs not only engages the audience with music, it invites them into a larger conversation about music cultures and race.
“I think this is a really wonderful direction to take the EPO,” Jones adds.
Pianist Corey Butler and vocalist Jackie Richardson perform Oscar Peterson’s Hymn to Freedom in 2017 at a show presented by Art of Time Ensemble:
Hymns to Freedom
“It incorporates storytelling,” Corey explains. “A part of our mandate at Zamar Music is not just to entertain but to educate,” he adds. “We call them edutainment or docu-concerts. In everything that we do, yes there’s an element of education, but you will definitely leave the concert learning something.”
The goal is to inspire people to act in a way that will effect real change.
“All it takes is, one at a time, all of us doing what we can to bring meaningful change into the world,” Butler says.
Matthew adds, “One of the special opportunities for EPO and also our audience I suspect is to open the door to talk about this stuff […] and begin a dialogue.”
Jackie Richardson, with her extensive background as both actor and powerhouse singer, is the ideal performer to bring the show’s songs to life
“She’s been with the project since 2018,” Butler says. “When I did it, I actually had her in mind.” He adds that he consulted with Richardson about some of the musical material and other elements of the show through a series of meetings and consultations. “We’re bringing back the some of the songs that she’s actually sung.”
For the Hymns to Freedom’s first iteration, Corey says he acted as a kind of emcee who introduced each of the songs. The spoken portion evolved into more of a storytelling role. “We really need to be intentional in how we communicate this music.”
As he points out, the music can reach its audience in ways that words alone can’t.
This journey that we are taking at the invitation of Zamar Music is going to be important to EPO,” Jones says. “To me, music is a continuum. The symphony is an instrument, and I’m delighted that Corey has chosen the symphony [for this project].”
“We’re centred on allyship,” Butler adds. “The cry of my heart is, we are better together.” He notes that EPO’s presentation of the Project “speaks volumes”, and begins a relationship that will continue to improve going forward.
“It seems to me that society at large wishes to engage in this dialogue and seek solutions,” Matthew says. “The arts and artists have been called to arms to deal with this.” He emphasizes that the show engages and educates its audience in a gentle and inspiring way.
The role of classical music as something that exists outside of politics and contemporary society is a relatively recent development, he points out. Beethoven challenged authority with his music, and his audience found much of it challenging.
“I think it’s really important for the orchestra to address today’s world,” Jones says. “As soon as the symphony orchestra becomes a museum piece, we are in trouble.”
From the Hymns to Freedom debut in 2018:
Jackie Richardson & The Music
Jones first met Jackie Richardson when rehearsals for the show began.
“She is an absolute delight. She glows,” he says. “The orchestra responded to this, and I know the audience will as well. It comes through vibrantly in her performance and singing,” he adds. “What a gem.”
“Even sitting down, she will hold you in the palm of her hands,” Butler says. “I don’t know how she does it. One of the reasons why I have chosen not to conduct since the second time we’ve done it was that I really wanted to take in how Jackie does what she does. She is remarkable.”
The musical material for the concert is made up of a number of songs.
“Amazing Grace, framed in a really emotional way,” Jones says. “It’s brought context, and it will not just be the Amazing Grace that the audience is used to.” Its historical origins relate directly to the show’s message.
“My favourite is I Love To Tell The Story,” Butler notes. He recalls growing up in Jamaica, and recognizes that members of the audience will come from many different walks of life. The inspiration for the song is the message that it’s important to tell your own story.
“Regardless where you’re from, I think it’s important that we tell our stories,” Corey says. “And also I really kind of like the arrangement.”
We Shall Overcome is also on the program. “That is actually an underscore to Dr. Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream speech. It really brings it to life.”
All Creatures Of Our God And King, written by St Francis of Assis, is added to the mix.
“There’s so many gems within the show,” Butler says. That includes what he calls a showstopper — the powerful gospel song How I Got Over, inspired by its rendition by artist Elijah Rock. “The audience is in for a treat.”
Jones adds that a saxophone soloist has been added to the orchestra’s roster for the performance.
“It’s going to be quite toe-tapping affair,” he says.
“That again too, really solidifies the point,” Butler adds. It brings jazz and gospel, what he calls the soul of African American culture, to the orchestral realm.
“Everything is going to be better when we are together,” Butler says.
“You can transpose that philosophy to creed, to religion,” Matthew points out. The orchestra itself is an organization that aims to be greater than the sum of its parts.
Naturally, Oscar Peterson’s Hymn To Freedom is part of the program, with Butler performing at the piano. “I’m really looking forward to doing that with the orchestra,” Corey says, “paying homage to one of Canada’s most respected pianists.”
Matthew points out that Peterson was a local for a time. “He lived in Etobicoke South for a while.”
Butler notes that Peterson was subjected to racial taunts and other discrimination when he lived in Mississauga, making the addition of his music all the more poignant.
- Find concert details and tickets for Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra’s Hymns to Freedom on February 1 [HERE].
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