{"id":31514,"date":"2015-11-10T13:22:14","date_gmt":"2015-11-10T18:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=31514"},"modified":"2017-01-09T21:30:16","modified_gmt":"2017-01-10T02:30:16","slug":"qa-40-questions-for-william-norris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2015\/11\/10\/qa-40-questions-for-william-norris\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A | 40 Questions For William Norris"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"William
William Norris (Photo: Joe Plommer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every so often, MT poses 60 questions to a local or visiting artist in Toronto who has made our classical music community that much more interesting. They pick and choose. The minimum response is 20 answers. A kind of Rorschach personality test, if you will.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tafelmusik <\/a>has been under the leadership of new Managing Director William Norris for just over a month now. Mr. Norris was known as a creative visionary and specializes in developing new audiences, and after a ten-year stint as Communications & Creative Programming Director with England’s\u00a0Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment<\/a>, he now calls Toronto home. His new role at Tafelmusik promises a fresh approach for Canada’s leading Baroque orchestra and choir. We caught up with him and asked a few questions designed to shed some light on\u00a0Toronto’s newest early music impresario.<\/p>\n

Q&A:<\/h3>\n

What are three things about Toronto that make you want to live here?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Being by the lake; Lots of interesting independent shops (including dangerously good cake and pastry shops); Its incredible diversity.<\/p>\n

What are three things that Toronto doesn\u2019t have but should?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

More subway lines; A nice urban park instead of the Gardiner Expressway; John Lewis<\/a> (A classy and employee-owned British department store).<\/p>\n

Name the musical equivalent to junk food.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Dance music. It\u2019s great when you really want it and it hits the spot, but overindulging makes you feel a bit sick.<\/p>\n

Default drink\/cocktail of choice?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Gin and Tonic or a Campari Soda.<\/p>\n

Name your favourite concert hall\/venue in Toronto<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Obviously \u2013 the Jeanne Lamon Hall at Trinity St Paul\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Name your favourite concert hall\/venue anywhere<\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Helsinki Music Centre<\/a>. Great acoustics, the audience wraps around the stage nicely and it has windows so you can see in even if you\u2019re not attending a concert. An honorable mention too to the Royal Festival Hall London<\/a>. Imperfect acoustically but I love the 50\u2019s architecture and it\u2019s a very democratic space<\/p>\n

Your favourite smells?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Tomato and geranium plants.<\/p>\n

Your least favourite smells?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Airline fuel. Coriander.<\/p>\n

The dumbest thing that you\u2019ve ever done to your hair?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Lose it. Admittedly not my choice.<\/p>\n

What are the three things you\u2019d like to change about Toronto?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The winter weather, the fact street cars come in 2\u2019s or 3\u2019s and then not at all for ages, and lastly the distance from London. I admit the first and last may be hard to fix.<\/p>\n

Your first three record store purchases<\/h3>\n

Puccini “La Boheme”, Paul Simon\u2019s “Graceland”, and Eurythmics “Greatest Hits.” Sadly none are in Tafelmusik\u2019s repertoire.<\/p>\n

If you could board a plane this afternoon, where would it be taking you?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Anywhere I have good friends.<\/p>\n

The strangest place you\u2019ve ever been to?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Hmm. Possibly Gibraltar. A tiny bit of the UK at the Southern tip of Spain. It\u2019s so small that a road runs across the airport\u2019s runway and they have to close the road to allow a plane to land.<\/p>\n

Where was the last place you traveled to for work or pleasure?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Pleasure: a train trip around Scotland. Work & pleasure: a farewell tour with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (my previous employer) to Eisenstadt, Austria (where Haydn lived and worked).<\/p>\n

What is your biggest phobia?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Heights. So no, I\u2019ve not been up the CN tower yet.<\/p>\n

Where did you go to school?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I\u2019m presuming this is school in the North American sense as in University? If so, Exeter and Warwick universities.<\/p>\n

What did you major in as an undergraduate?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Geography.<\/p>\n

The strangest talent that you possess?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I\u2019m very good at getting a mental map of new cities in my head shortly after arriving. Comes in handy sometimes.<\/p>\n

The different career path that you could have gone on?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Urban design \/ town planning.<\/p>\n

Your most regrettable purchase ever?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A smurf house I persuaded my Mum to buy me when I was little. As she had warned me, I never used it.<\/p>\n

What was the luckiest moment in your life?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Getting accepted into university despite not quite getting the entry requirements. And landing my first job with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.<\/p>\n

What are you the most proud of?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Establishing The Night Shift (the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment\u2019s late-night concert series) and seeing a young audience really get into classical music \u2013 and have a great time doing so.<\/p>\n

What are you the least proud of?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Printing 10,000 flyers with the wrong day of the week on them.<\/p>\n

What is the best thing about your work?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Working with artistic and committed people who are full of exciting ideas and seeing packed concerts full of people loving the music.<\/p>\n

What is the worst thing about your work?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Sometimes unsociable hours \u2013 for example tours that start with a 6 a.m. check-in.<\/p>\n

The relatively normal piece of clothing that you believe you\u2019d look the most ridiculous in?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A T-Shirt. I think I look like a tortoise without a shell.<\/p>\n

The talent that you wish you possessed?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The ability to draw.<\/p>\n

What are you listening to as you answer these questions?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Erm, “Survivor” by Helena Paparizou<\/a>. It\u2019s a slightly cheesy Eurovision-style number. I presume the Eurovision Song Contest isn\u2019t big here?<\/p>\n

What musical instrument do you secretly long to play?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s not even secret. The cello. I love the way it almost becomes part of you, it\u2019s very physical. Almost sexy. Especially the baroque cello which is usually held between the legs.<\/p>\n

What is the game that you\u2019re best at?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Monopoly. And no, I don\u2019t steal from the bank like my aunt always says.<\/p>\n

What is the one animal that scares you the most?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Cockroaches.<\/p>\n

If you had a motto, what would it be?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Everything will be fine. <\/strong>Closely followed by \u2018it\u2019s a small period instrument orchestra, no one\u2019s going to die\u2019 (stolen from an ex-boss).<\/p>\n

Have you ever fired a gun? If so, what were the circumstances?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Yes, clay pigeon shooting while in Scotland.<\/p>\n

Scariest situation you\u2019ve ever been in?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Possibly making three attempted landings at Madeira airport \u2013 one of the worlds shortest runways and built into the sea.<\/p>\n

Your favourite word?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

“Zesty.”<\/p>\n

Your least favourite word?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

World-class. Moving forward. Push-back. Any management speak.<\/p>\n

The thing that makes you the happiest?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Family and friends.<\/p>\n

The thing that makes you the angriest?<\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Inconsiderate people.<\/p>\n

Your first memory?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Being in my buggy, with the feel of the strange plastic material it was made out of and the rhythm of the paving slabs as we went over them.<\/p>\n

Three pieces, songs, or arias that you could listen to on repeat for an hour?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

“Left to my own devices” by the Pet Shop Boys; Brahms Symphony No.1; Handel Empio diro, to Sei<\/em> from “Julius Caesar” (though there are many other Handel arias I could have chosen). Plus pretty much anything by Purcell.<\/p>\n

The one place that you have the least interest in ever visiting?<\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Dubai.<\/p>\n

The first three things that you do every morning?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Check my phone, have some tea, realise I\u2019m already running late.<\/p>\n

The best way to die?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Surrounded by people you love.<\/p>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Want more updates on Toronto-centric classical music news and review\u00a0before anyone else finds out? Get our exclusive newsletter\u00a0<\/em>here<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0and follow us on\u00a0<\/em>Facebook<\/a><\/span>\u00a0or Twitter<\/a><\/span> for all the latest.<\/em><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Newly minted Tafelmusik Managing Director William Norris answers some of lifes most pressing questions, including his strangest talent. You’ll never guess.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":31516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[118,4968,5009],"tags":[2517,3223,5487],"yst_prominent_words":[7576,6715,7577,7495,7578,7574,7520,7493,6759,6616,6758,7575,7573,7569,6613,7571,6762,7492,6741,7579],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/William-Norris-2-highres.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-8ci","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31514"}],"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\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31514"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41420,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31514\/revisions\/41420"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31514"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=31514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}