{"id":36854,"date":"2016-05-16T16:04:55","date_gmt":"2016-05-16T20:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=36854"},"modified":"2016-05-16T16:04:55","modified_gmt":"2016-05-16T20:04:55","slug":"interview-reflections-douglas-mcnabney-bids-farewell-to-toronto-summer-music-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2016\/05\/16\/interview-reflections-douglas-mcnabney-bids-farewell-to-toronto-summer-music-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Reflections: Douglas McNabney Bids Farewell to Toronto Summer Music Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

TSMF\u2019s departing Artistic Director Douglas McNabney reflects on the past and looks to the future.<\/h3>\n
\"Douglas
Douglas McNabney Photo: Bo Huang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I<\/span>t was our annual ritual. Every spring for the last five years, TSMF Artistic Director Douglas McNabney and I sat down for a chat to reflect on the previous season and to preview the one coming up. Out meeting this year took on a special meaning, one tinged with some sadness. It was announced at the end of March that the 2016 Festival running from July 14 to August 7 will be McNabney\u2019s last at the helm, as its Artistic Director.<\/p>\n

It came as a bit of a shock. The TSMF has done extremely well since he took over in 2010, receiving critical and audience accolades, ever-increasing attendance, a balanced budget and excellent fundraising result. So why is he leaving?\u00a0 I took advantage of his whirlwind, one-day visit to Toronto in April for a quick chat. A few weeks after our meeting, TSMF announced the appointment of violinist and TSO Concertmaster Jonathan Crow as the incoming Artistic Director. McNabney will still be in charge of this year\u2019s Festival, with the presence of Crow to ensure a smooth transition. \u00a0It was likely that by the time McNabney and I met for the interview, he probably had a good idea who his successor was going to be, but like any good CEO, his lips were sealed when it came to the media.<\/p>\n

With a sneak preview of the new TSMF season coming up on Wednesday at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, it\u2019s a good time to publish our interview. A native Torontonian, McNabney is Associate Professor of Chamber Music at McGill University in Montreal. This means he has been commuting to TSMF over the past six summers. In the press release announcing his farewell, McNabney was quoted as saying that given the current vitality of the Festival, the timing was right to hand over the responsibilities to a new Artistic Director. \u00a0I decided to ask him for the specifics, for his thoughts on his tenure, and what sage advice he may have for his successor:<\/p>\n

JS<\/strong>: Speaking for myself and I think all the TSMF fans \u2013 we are going to miss you!<\/em><\/p>\n

DM<\/strong>:\u00a0 Of course it was a shock for everybody, especially the Board. It\u2019s a normal thing. This will be my sixth season. Five was my original mandate, and I went a year further. For a Festival, it\u2019s very important to have a renewal of contacts, artists, ideas. It\u2019s good thing to have a new person taking over.<\/p>\n

JS<\/strong>: Other than a renewal of TSMF and all that goes with it, what other reasons are there behind your leaving? \u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

DM<\/strong>: For me, I have a number of projects in Montreal. One looks at the horizon and there are only so many years left that one can devote to new projects. I am extremely proud of what we\u2019ve built here in six years.\u00a0 Things are in such good shape; it\u2019s the perfect time in many ways to pass it on to someone else. I\u2019ve built the organisation into such a going concern that it made it very difficult for me to run it from Montreal. To have a presence in Toronto is so important.\u00a0 I can only come in twice a month and I can never see enough people. I think the next Artistic Director should be someone who\u2019s present in Toronto, to go to donor events and be seen, this sort of thing. I took a part-time job and made it full-time, that\u2019s the irony of it!<\/p>\n

JS<\/strong>: You mentioned you have future projects \u2013 can you tell us about it? Does it have to do with you as a musician or as an administrator?<\/em><\/p>\n

DM<\/strong>: I prefer to not say too much about it\u2026 it\u2019s in Montreal. It has to do with me as a musician and as an administrator. Of course my lifelong preoccupation with young artists and giving them the opportunities \u2013 it\u2019ll be a form of that. I ran Domaine Forget for ten years and then TSMF for another six years\u2026<\/p>\n

JS<\/strong>: Do you feel you\u2019ve accomplished everything you\u2019ve wanted to during your tenure at TSMF?<\/em><\/p>\n

DM<\/strong>: [Pause] That\u2019s an interesting question\u2026I\u2019ve never considered it under that point of view. The answer is \u2018yes.\u2019 That\u2019s maybe one of the reasons why I\u2019m happy to give it to another, maybe a younger person, someone with more energy, to take it to the next step. I have done everything I said I would do, including bringing in the community academy last year, which was a very important part of the history of TSM, for adult amateurs, as a way of building a community around the Festival. This year we are bringing back opera, Britten\u2019s The Rape of Lucretia<\/em>. Opera is something that many people at TSMF missed. I said I would never be in the business of producing opera which is a full-time occupation, where huge resources are needed and it\u2019s very demanding in the context of a festival. I\u2019ve always said we can present opera in partnership with other organisations. \u00a0This time, we\u2019re partnering with Against the Grain Theatre and Banff Centre in cooperation with the Canadian Opera Company, an ideal situation. To put so much effort into it and only do it in Banff is a shame, so we\u2019re bringing it back to Toronto for a single performance. It\u2019s a chamber opera, not as onerous to put together, and the singers will get an incredible opportunity.<\/p>\n

JS<\/strong>: That\u2019s great news! As an opera lover, I really missed this part of TSMF. I still remember the Ariadne auf Naxos\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

DM<\/strong>: To partner with ATG and COC to produce an opera in Toronto, everybody wins. It\u2019ll be at the Winter Garden, another thing I am so thrilled about \u2014 I love that theatre! A wonderful space, and it\u2019s underused. I hope people will be curious to rediscover that theatre on July 22.<\/p>\n

JS<\/strong>: It\u2019s great to have opera back, but I have to confess that I\u2019m not a big fan of The Rape of Lucretia\u2026.<\/em><\/p>\n

DM<\/strong>: You are not alone, but it\u2019s an incredibly powerful piece. It has so many layers to it \u2013 a horribly tragic story but the whole aspect of the Christian interpretation at the end is interesting. Britten\u2019s putting this Christian, moralising tone to it on top of the ancient story is in itself worth exploring. None of this tragedy has lost any of its immediacy. The music is fantastic \u2013 some of Britten\u2019s best writing for voice is in this opera.<\/p>\n

JS<\/strong>: What other events do you feel are special highlights at TSMF this summer?<\/em><\/p>\n

DM<\/strong>: Ben Heppner is our new Festival spokesperson. We\u2019ve decided to do that because this is such a big year for voice, so having one of Canada\u2019s legendary opera stars acting as spokesperson is special. The opening gala concert has tenor Nicholas Phan sing Britten\u2019s Serenade for Tenor Horn and Strings<\/em>. You\u2019ll remember that he was here several summers ago? Then we have Jamie Barton, a wonderful up-and-coming singer, very natural, and a good, grounded person too. We\u2019ll have a wonderful celebration of Shakespeare, an evening of sonnets and scenes, a program developed by Patrick Hansen at Opera McGill. He\u2019s going to have the music of Gounod, Verdi, and Britten of course, interspersed with readings of sonnets. Sixteen young singers are involved in this production.<\/p>\n

JS<\/strong>: You seem to be doing a lot of Britten. What about the other British composers?\u00a0 Like, Elgar?<\/em><\/p>\n

DM<\/strong>:\u00a0 Oh yes!\u00a0 On Opening Night, we\u2019ll have Elgar\u2019s Introduction and Allegro<\/em>. On Aug. 4 in the Proms concert, we\u2019ll have Enigma Variations<\/em>, Pomp and Circumstance<\/em>, etc. There are only about 12 to 15 mainstage concerts, so the trick is to how to do justice to the Festival theme of London Calling<\/em>. It ends up with just a smattering of everything. It\u2019s a difficult exercise, leaving out so much.<\/p>\n

JS<\/strong>: How\u2019s the Art of the Song this year?<\/em><\/p>\n

DM<\/strong>: We are rebranding the Art of the Song recitals this year as \u201cre-GENERATION\u201d \u2014 trying to get away from the idea that these are just the Academy concerts. They are so much more \u2014 these are really professional concerts, like the chamber concerts when the resident artists are playing.<\/p>\n

JS<\/strong>: I\u2019ve often wondered why your Art of Song singers don\u2019t team up with your chamber musicians to give recitals \u2014 that strikes me as a logical arrangement.<\/em><\/p>\n

DM<\/strong>: We tried!\u00a0 It\u2019s tough, given the repertoire and the scheduling. It\u2019s one of those ideals that we were never able to fully integrate. But this year we have a lot of voice. We also have Daniel Taylor and\u00a0Allyson McHardy in our Proms concert.<\/p>\n

JS<\/strong>: And the great German soprano Anne Schwanewilms is coming. Is she going to sing?<\/em><\/p>\n

DM<\/strong>: Yes, she\u2019s coming, but no she won\u2019t be singing \u2013 she\u2019s coming as a mentor in the Art of Song. It\u2019s always difficult to sing and teach at the same time, but we\u2019re working on it. Next year the mentor will sing first and then teach\u2026<\/p>\n

JS<\/strong>: I want to ask you \u2013 what do you feel the proudest about the TSMF and what\u2019s your vision for the future?<\/em><\/p>\n

DM<\/strong>: I\u2019d say having brought all the elements together, creating a world-class Academy, having totally transformed it into one of North America\u2019s premiere young artist training institutes, recognised by our peers. When I came, the concerts were held at the MacMillan Theatre. Now they\u2019re at Koerner Hall. We\u2019ve also transformed the nature of the Festival, by inviting the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. This summer we\u2019re working with the Canadian Opera Company this summer\u2026 we\u2019ve become really part of the milieu now. Everybody knows about the Festival. That\u2019s what has been accomplished in the last six years. It\u2019s an interesting moment, a good moment\u2026the whole organisation has never been stronger. Financially we\u2019re strong; we\u2019ve had a very good year last year, with a significant boost to our endowment. A very good Board with very good fund-raising results. We\u2019ve had some modest good news, having been put onto multi-year funding by some of the government granting agencies including the Toronto Arts Council. When I came, we were on a project-to-project basis. Now we\u2019re on a multi-year funding basis. This is a good moment to hand it to someone new. I have to say, we\u2019ve had wonderful people applying to the position (of Artistic Director). \u00a0For me it\u2019s a demonstration that all kinds of people are interested in TSMF, thinking \u2018oh boy, wouldn\u2019t it be fun to be able to do something with that!\u2019<\/p>\n

JS<\/strong>: When you say all kinds of people \u2013 are you entertaining only local candidates, someone who\u2019s based here, or are you also looking at people who are not residents of the city but are willing to come here for the summer?<\/p>\n

DM<\/strong>: The Board has a very strong idea how they want to see this evolve\u2026all the options are open. But I think the real preference would be to have someone in Toronto. That\u2019s been my advice \u2013 you must have somebody who goes to every event in the city, everywhere, all the time, representing Toronto Summer Music. That\u2019s how you continue to build the organisation. Having a music director coming in once a month having meetings with a few donors and then leave isn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n

JS<\/strong>: Which brings up my last question \u2014 what advice would you have for the new person?<\/p>\n

DM<\/strong>: [Long Pause]<\/p>\n

JS<\/strong>: I\u2019ve put you on the spot here\u2026<\/p>\n

DM<\/strong>: Yes, because I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be offering advice. But I\u2019ll have a role as a possible mentor, certainly as a confidant. My intention is to be a resource person\u2026<\/p>\n

JS<\/strong>: Oh, so you\u2019ll still be connected in some minor way with TSMF?<\/p>\n

DM<\/strong>: Officially no, but morally yes. \u00a0And available when there are questions. I have to say the Board has been terrific\u2026this whole succession issue has been handled in an ideal way.<\/p>\n

JS<\/strong>: You mean, nobody said to you \u2013 why are you leaving us? How can you betray us? I\u2019m teasing you\u2026<\/p>\n

DM<\/strong>: That might have been one of the stages of the reaction!\u00a0 But when they see the reason, the work I do\u2026 \u00a0My ardent supporters on the Board wonder how I managed!\u00a0 It\u2019s clearly not sustainable. It\u2019s really in the best interest of Toronto Summer Music that I hand it over to someone else. It\u2019s been my passion for the last six years. I want to see it continues to grow and prosper. I\u2019m working with the Board closely so that the transition is totally seamless. Whoever that person is who takes over will have my complete support.<\/p>\n

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

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