{"id":79898,"date":"2022-09-19T12:12:30","date_gmt":"2022-09-19T16:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=79898"},"modified":"2022-09-19T12:12:30","modified_gmt":"2022-09-19T16:12:30","slug":"preview-futurestops-festival-showcases-pipe-organs-future-contemporary-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2022\/09\/19\/preview-futurestops-festival-showcases-pipe-organs-future-contemporary-music\/","title":{"rendered":"PREVIEW | The FutureStops Festival Showcases The Pipe Organ\u2019s Future In Contemporary Music"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"L-R
L-R (clockwise): Charlemagne Palestine; Amina Claudine Myers; Thomas Mellan (Images courtesy of FutureStops Festival)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The FutureStops Festival of the Organ<\/strong>, which takes place in Toronto from September 29 to October 1, is a music festival with a mission.<\/p>\n

FutureStops, an organization dedicated to bringing the pipe organ and its enormous possibilities to the 21st century zeitgeist, began with a podcast. Artist and musician Blake Hargreaves<\/strong> initiated the FutureStops podcast<\/a> to introduce a wider public to the instrument.<\/p>\n

The podcast incorporates interviews with artists and innovators, including performers, composers, and instrument builders, among others. The ongoing project is heading into its third year. But, that\u2019s only the beginning, according to Hargreaves, who is also acting as curator for the festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis festival is our big announcement party for two of the three prongs of FutureStops,\u201d he says. \u201cWith this event, we are launching the other two.\u201d<\/p>\n

That includes essentially updating the public on the current status of a venerable instrument, as well as developing a community that can add momentum to collective efforts to bring new works for the instrument to a wider public.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many people who work with the pipe organ nowadays find themselves in a kind of silo,\u201d he notes. He hopes the festival will be a meeting point for the artists as well as audiences to discover the instrument in its complexity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our current age, where technology is such a big part of everyday discourse, this instrument was the most complex machine ever built by human beings at the time it was made. A hundred years ago, organs like the one at the Metropolitan might have had an appeal to them as a technological marvel,\u201d he points out. The complexity of the instrument adds to its potential. \u201cThere is a huge depth of ways to be interested in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Modern day keyboard players on synthesizers can appreciate the origins of that sound in the pipe organ, as well as its sheer sonic power. \u201cThe fact that the organ can amplify the efforts of the musician [is important],\u201d he says. \u201cIn our ear bud and technology age, that’s a phenomenon that’s unparalleled.\u201d<\/p>\n

For most people, the pipe organ and any music written for it are tightly associated with sacred music as well as classical music of specific eras. \u201cThat’s what we’re aiming to correct.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"L-R
L-R (clockwise): Raven Chacon (Image courtesy of FutureStops Festival); Kali Malone (Photo: Victoria Loeb); Kara-Lis Coverdale (Photo: Camille Blake)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The FutureStops Festival<\/h2>\n

The festival will unfold over three days, and three physical locations as well as online: Roy Thomson Hall, Cathedral of St James, Metropolitan United Church and online at www.futurestops.org<\/a>. The Metropolitan United Church houses Canada\u2019s largest pipe organ<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe organ is the main character of this festival,\u201d Hargreaves explains. \u201cWe wanted to offer people the invitation to experience the organ in many different contexts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each concert has something different on offer, including exciting new Canadian composers and venerated international artists.<\/p>\n

Thursday’s concert at the Cathedral Church of St. James is titled Dark Matter<\/strong>, and the program offers distinctive new voices in the world of contemporary classical music.<\/p>\n