{"id":116519,"date":"2025-08-05T13:29:56","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T17:29:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=116519"},"modified":"2025-08-05T14:00:01","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T18:00:01","slug":"scrutiny-toronto-summer-music-final-concert-pays-homage-community-outgoing-artistic-director-jonathan-crow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/08\/05\/scrutiny-toronto-summer-music-final-concert-pays-homage-community-outgoing-artistic-director-jonathan-crow\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | Toronto Summer Music Final Concert Pays Homage To Community And Outgoing Artistic Director Jonathan Crow"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Toronto
Toronto Summer Music Finale concert, August 2, 2025 (Photo: Lucky Tang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Toronto Summer Music: Finale. Marie-Claire Saindon: \u201cTurtulette Acadienne Montr\u00e9alaise\u201d; J.S. Bach: Magnificat; Samih Choukeir: \u201cLao Rahal Soti\u201d (arr. Shireen Abu Khader) \u2014 Kathleen Allan, conductor; Joy Lee, piano; Community Program-Chamber Choir | Chopin: Ballade No. 3 In A-Flat Major, Op. 47 \u2014 Luke Zhang, piano | Eric Abramovitz: Bleep Bleep Bass (World Premi\u00e8re) \u2014 Eric Abramovitz*, bass-clarinet; Miles Haskins, bass-clarinet | Kelly-Marie Murphy: Fierce Urgency of the Now (World Premi\u00e8re) \u2014 Cassia Drake, viola; Jonathan Mak, piano | Debussy: String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10, L. 85 \u2014 Clarisse Schneider, Sophia Lee, violins; Bridget Allen-O’Neil, viola; Lara Isaac, cello; Song Hee Lee, coach | Mozart: Serenade No. 10 in B-flat Major, K. 361\/370a, \u201cGran Partita\u201d \u2014 Sarah Jeffrey, Cristina Sewerin, oboes; Isabelle Dumas, Farimah Khorrami, clarinets; Jonathan Krehm, Eric Abramovitz, basset-horns; Zenghao Wang, Dorothy Cotton, bassoons; Jesse Dale, bass; Gabriel Radford, Robert Bernstein, Noah Hawryluck, Ethan Chialtas, horns | J.S. Bach: \u201cJesu, Joy of Man\u2019s Desiring\u201d (Cantata 147, Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben) \u2014 Byungchan Lee, Claire Heinrichs, Jonathan Crow, violins; Vanessa J. Goymour, viola; Sabina Crow, cello; Caitlin Wood, Sarah Mole, sopranos; Jennifer Mak, piano | Janacek: Ml\u00e1d\u00ed for Wind Sextet \u2014 Claire Lee, flute; Cristina Sewerin, oboe; Jonathan Krehm, clarinet; Eric Abramovitz, bass clarinet; Dorothy Ward, bassoon; Avram Selick, horn | Dvo\u0159\u00e1k: Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 81 \u2014 Yura Lee, Yoanna Haeun Jang, violins; Remea Elisa Ines Friedrich, viola; Bethany Bobbs, cello; Emmanuel Roberts Dugal, piano. August 2, 2025, Walter Hall.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cClassical music is in good hands,\u201d a visibly moved Jonathan Crow announced, his towering figure dominating the Walter Hall stage. The last night of this year\u2019s Toronto Summer Music Festival was an occasion to pay homage to its indefatigable Artistic Director, who, after nine seasons, is ending his tenure. He is succeeded by another Canadian violinist, William Fedkenheuer.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, this was a moving event in so many ways: from voices cracking with emotion to a standing ovation for Crow as he walked down to receive a trophy, to a 16-minute compilation of video tributes from friends and alumni of the Festival, including stars such as James Ehnes, Peter Oundjian, Angela Hewitt, and Gustavo Gimeno.<\/p>\n

\"Jonathan
Jonathan Crow and friends at the Toronto Summer Music Finale concert, August 2, 2025 (Photo: Lucky Tang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Community Program & World Premieres<\/h3>\n

It was also fitting that the evening should celebrate TSM\u2019s community program, one of the greatest legacies of Crow\u2019s tenure. The program\u2019s Chamber Choir walked in, singing Marie-Claire Saindon\u2019s \u2018Turtulette Acadienne Montr\u00e9alaise\u2019; a meaningful choice, if not exactly a musically rewarding one, for all the choir\u2019s enthusiasm and infectious energy.<\/p>\n

Two movements from Bach\u2019s Magnificat offered a more worthwhile vehicle for them and their conductor, Kathleen Allan, as they smoothly negotiated complex polyphonies. For the final song, the choir dispersed on either side of the stage, forming a dome as they echoed the soloist\u2019s mournful tune, a song by the Syrian Samih Chukeir, arranged by the Jordanian-Palestinian-Canadian Shireen Abu Khader.<\/p>\n

The program offered no description or translation of the words. But, some post-concert research revealed how poignant and relevant they were: \u201cIf my voice departs, your voices will not \/ If the singer dies, the songs will remain \/ bringing together the broken and suffering hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Toronto
Toronto Summer Music Finale concert, August 2, 2025 (Photo: Lucky Tang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A message of warning for another human disaster came with the COVID-delayed premiere of Kelly-Marie Murphy\u2019s \u2018Fierce Urgency of the Now\u2019 for viola and piano, featuring Cassia Drake (for whom the music was composed) and the ever-reliable Jonathan Mak. A call to action to save the environment, each of the piece\u2019s three movements was inspired by a prominent environmental scientist. The music moved from contemplative ruminations in the first two movements to frenetic drive in the third.<\/p>\n

Between these works, Luke Zhang demonstrated the outcome of his training with the Community program\u2019s Piano Masterclass, in a brave and largely accomplished performance of Chopin\u2019s third Ballade.<\/p>\n

Then, Eric Abramovitz and Miles Haskins, both Community program mentors, brought a touch of comic showmanship with the former\u2019s medley of familiar tunes for two bass clarinets, in homage to Chang Lee, one of the TSM\u2019s members of staff.<\/p>\n

Four first movements for larger ensembles followed: an animated Debussy String Quartet, a heavenly Mozart Gran Partita for wind, an enigmatic Jan\u00e1\u010dek Ml\u00e1di for wind sextet, and finally an invigorating Dvo\u0159\u00e1k Piano Quintet.<\/p>\n

\"Toronto
Toronto Summer Music Finale concert, August 2, 2025 (Photo: Lucky Tang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Spirit of Community<\/h3>\n

But, this evening was not primarily about technical prowess.<\/p>\n

It was about the spirit of community, about the audience\u2019s enthusiasm and support even after two hours without interval, about the smiles and tears as Jonathan Crow joined his staff in Bach\u2019s \u2018Jesu, Joy of Man\u2019s Desiring\u2019, about the TSM staff\u2019s non-stop work and broad smiles, about learning that the matching fund-raising campaign had surpassed its goal, and above all about mentors and mentees, amateurs and professionals, together celebrating the thrill of music-making.<\/p>\n

Classical music in Toronto is indeed in good hands.<\/p>\n

Thank you, TSM staff. Thank you, Jonathan!<\/p>\n

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\u201cClassical music is in good hands,\u201d a visibly moved Jonathan Crow announced, his towering figure dominating the Walter Hall stage during the finale concert of Toronto Summer Music 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":116522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[41660,10,11,76,19,41496,38,52,59,63],"tags":[4439,3356],"yst_prominent_words":[15149],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Copy-of-REVIEW-18.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-ujl","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116519"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/117"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116519"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116534,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116519\/revisions\/116534"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116519"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=116519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}