{"id":65858,"date":"2020-01-15T10:49:41","date_gmt":"2020-01-15T15:49:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=65858"},"modified":"2020-01-15T11:30:41","modified_gmt":"2020-01-15T16:30:41","slug":"feature-mandle-philharmonic-makings-concert-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2020\/01\/15\/feature-mandle-philharmonic-makings-concert-ground\/","title":{"rendered":"FEATURE | The Mandle Philharmonic \u2014\u00a0The Makings Of A Concert From The Ground Up"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mandle
Mandle Philharmonic (Photo: Taylor Long)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Presented by Mandle Philharmonic<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

H<\/span>ow does an orchestral concert take shape?<\/p>\n

The rehearsal hall at the Meridian Arts Centre is full, with 50+ musicians, their instruments, and stands spread in an arc across the large space. The conductor, Mandle Cheung<\/a><\/span>, stands on a raised podium in the middle, guiding the orchestra as they fill the hall with the sound of Brahms.<\/p>\n

Anyone who is familiar with the usual drill at such occasions would notice that this rehearsal has a different pace \u2014 and a dynamic that is unusual in the classical music world. The conductor stops and consults with the musicians about how to proceed. The vibe is low key and relaxed.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s do it again, please,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The concert \u2014 An Evening of Romantics (Brahms and Beethoven) & Spring Festival Overture<\/a><\/em><\/span> \u2014 with conductor Mandle Cheung and the Mandle Philharmonic<\/a><\/span> with pianist Sae Yoon Chon<\/a><\/span>, takes place on January 25, but planning for the concert began last summer.<\/p>\n

The Mandle Philharmonic is entirely the brainchild of Mandle Cheung, tech entrepreneur and classical music aficionado, and the concert, the orchestra\u2019s third, began to take shape with a focus on repertoire. In their two previous concerts, he explored Mahler, but for the third, he went further back into the Romantic era to Brahms and Beethoven. Spring Festival Overture <\/em>by modern Chinese composer Li Huanzhi, a piece widely performed in China, was also added to the bill.<\/p>\n

Once he\u2019d decided on repertoire, Mandle took about two months to prepare on his own. Along with studying the score, he watches videos and, naturally, listens to different interpretations of the work. \u201cI spend a lot of time trying to learn it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"Mandle
Mandle Philharmonic (Photo: Taylor Long)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

N<\/span>ext, he assembles the musicians and sets up a rehearsal schedule with the orchestra. Contact must be made with the soloist, in this case, Sae Yoon Chon, the First Prize winner at the 2018 Dublin International Piano Competition and at the 2019 Orford Music Festival.<\/p>\n

Because of the dynamics, practices are more frequent than would be typical of a professional group. Mandle uses the experience and insight of the musicians to add to his own interpretation of the score as the rehearsals progress. \u201cI\u2019m really cheating in a sense,\u201d he laughs. \u201cI enjoy learning; it\u2019s very stimulating.\u201d<\/p>\n

The difference in approach comes from the origins of Mandle Phil. At 70, Mandle Cheung had created a successful tech business, but there was one item left on his to-do list: conducting an orchestra. \u201cBack in 2015, I started formulating the idea,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

In order to put the plan into action, and without the usual background in classical music, he began with networking \u2014 getting out to community orchestra rehearsals and performances, meeting the players and conductors.\u00a0 \u201cI learned a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, he recognized from the outset that it would be an enormous undertaking. \u201cI have no idea what I am doing,\u201d he admitted to himself, \u201cbut I want to do it.\u201d First and foremost, he knew he needed help. \u201cHow do I put a team of players together?\u201d he wondered.<\/p>\n

The experience with community orchestras led to a decision. Most community orchestras operate with a core of a few professional players, with the majority of the seats filled out by amateur musicians.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided to have all professional players,\u201d Mandle says. Working with experienced orchestral musicians means that he can rely on their expertise. It\u2019s also proven to be the key to creating an orchestra from scratch.<\/p>\n

\"Mandle
Mandle Philharmonic (Photo: Taylor Long)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

C<\/span>ertainly, there is no lack of talent in Toronto\u2019s pool of classical musicians, and word has spread about the kind of opportunity that the Mandle Phil offers.<\/p>\n

Allison Bent, Assistant Personnel Manager for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, heard about the Mandle orchestra through the musician\u2019s grapevine. She\u2019s been with the organization playing percussion since their March 2019 concert. \u201cIt was a massive undertaking,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s very much a collaborative effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

While there are a number of others who have been in since the beginning, the flow of new people is also a plus. \u201cThe interesting part is that it\u2019s not always the same people,\u201d she says. \u201cIt keeps you on your toes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Cox plays the double bass. \u201cI\u2019ve been playing with Mandle from the very beginning,\u201d he says. He too enjoys the orchestra\u2019s dynamic. \u201cIt\u2019s a very unique situation.\u201d He points out that it\u2019s rare to encounter a maestro who entertains critique from the orchestra members.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good opportunity to play in a big orchestra, and I have been very fortunate\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n

Graham Martin plays the contrabassoon. \u201cI\u2019ve been with him for the whole shebang,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat I\u2019ve really enjoyed is the calibre of orchestra that the contractor has been able to assemble.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mandle
Mandle Philharmonic (Photo: Taylor Long)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

W<\/span>hile the unusual dynamic means more rehearsals than would be typical of a professional orchestra, as Mandle learns alongside the musicians, it\u2019s a plus than a drawback. Repertoire has a lot to do with that too. \u201cIt\u2019 s music that is a pleasure to play,\u201d he says. \u201cHe chooses great repertoire.\u201d It\u2019s also about the atmosphere. \u201cBecause he\u2019s a humble man, there\u2019s none of that stress you see with professional groups sometimes,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Graham also points out the fact that there are only so many orchestra seats to fill in the city, combined with a steady flow of talented young musicians coming out of Toronto\u2019s colleges and universities. \u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity,\u201d he notes, and one that offers professional experience.<\/p>\n

The process of organization and planning has evolved alongside the organization itself. In effect, there was over two years of prep for their first concert, a performance of Mahler\u2019s 4th Symphony that took place in November 2018. \u201cIt\u2019s the shortest one,\u201d Mandle notes. That first performance took place at the Glen Gould Studio for an audience of about 250 by his reckoning.<\/p>\n

Preparations for the second concert, which occurred in March 2019, again featuring Mahler, were much shorter. \u201cThat was crammed into two months,\u201d he says. The audience swelled to about 800, he reports.<\/p>\n

Entering its third year of operations, Mandle is trying to delegate more of the backstage work. \u201cThere is a lot of test driving,\u201d he says. \u201cWe always managed to pitch together.\u201d He credits the talented collaborators and team players he\u2019s managed to assemble with the orchestra\u2019s successes so far.<\/p>\n

\"Mandle
Mandle Philharmonic (Photo: Taylor Long)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A<\/span> full orchestra for performance involves about 90 players, but managing an orchestra entails much more than simply putting the music and musicians together for performance. \u201cEverything is a learning process,\u201d he says. Fitting everyone on stage for the Mahler concert \u2014 including six timpani \u2014 was a challenge on its own, for example.<\/p>\n

Among other things, running an orchestra involves learning how to work with the musicians union. \u201cI\u2019m essentially wearing three hats,\u201d Mandle says. That includes acting as conductor, CEO and financial backer. He\u2019s always looking to hire talented people to join the team. Marketing and putting the word out about the concerts, including social media, is another challenge.<\/p>\n

Once the January 25 concert is over, planning and organizing continues. Mandle\u2019s plans for the future are ambitious. \u201cI intend to do five concerts in 2020 \u2014 ideally,\u201d he says. \u201cIf we do well, we\u2019ll start to plan the rest. I intend for this to be a full professional orchestra.\u201d<\/p>\n

++++<\/p>\n

See the Mandle Philharmonic<\/a><\/span> live on Saturday, January 25<\/span><\/a><\/strong> at 7:30 pm performing at the Meridian Arts Centre, George Weston Recital Hall. For a limited time, use discount code PHIL50<\/strong> for 50% off adult tickets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tech entrepreneur turned conductor Mandle Cheung and members of the Mandle Phil talk about preparations for their concert on January 25, and how an orchestra came together from scratch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65885,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[33451,4967,13024,63],"tags":[27766,27765,34179],"yst_prominent_words":[34174,34171,34172,34170,6715,34173,15519,27755,27759,27756,34205,34204,32866,6613,34207,34206,26209,34176,34175,34177],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/Mandle-Philharmonic-2020.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-h8e","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65858"}],"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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65858"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65897,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65858\/revisions\/65897"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65858"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=65858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}